Who helped Germany revive after the war. Nothing foretold

Samson MADIEVSKY (Germany)

OTHER GERMANS

About those who helped Jews during the Nazi years

According to historians, in 1941-45, 10-15 thousand Jews lived illegally in Germany (more than 5 thousand of them in Berlin). These are the people who “went to the bottom” - went underground to escape deportation to death camps. Only 3-5 thousand survived (in Berlin - 1370 people). The rest were betrayed by Aryan neighbors, captured during document checks on the streets and in public transport, died during bombings or due to lack of medical care, and became victims of Jewish Gestapo informants (alas, there were some). Almost every one of the survivors of the underground owes their salvation to the Germans who took part in their fate. Compared to the millions who approved of anti-Jewish policies, very few helped. But they were.

The Jews were helped by Germans from different walks of life: workers and peasants, artisans and entrepreneurs, office workers and people of liberal professions, priests and professors, aristocrats and even prostitutes. The considerations that guided them were different: political, religious and ethical, sympathy for Jews in general or for some of them. In almost all cases, Jews were saved by people who could not help but respond to the request for help from those who were in mortal danger.

Deciding on the question “to help or not to help” was not an easy matter. It required considerable strength of character. The man put not only his own life at stake, but also the well-being of his family, and went beyond the boundaries of the notorious “German people’s community.” He could only count on the sympathy and support of his own family members and his closest trusted friends - the risk was too great and the price for a mistake was too high.

According to the Gestapo order of October 24, 1941, those caught helping Jews were not exterminated, but were taken into custody and then sent to a concentration camp, which often ended in their death. Men were usually punished more severely than women. As the collapse of the Third Reich approached, the ferocity of the Nazis increased. It should be noted that in the German-occupied territories of the Soviet Union and Poland, the penalty for “aiding the Jews” (Judenbegünstigung) was clear - the death penalty. The difference in punitive measures was explained by political and ideological considerations. The Nazi leadership sought to present German aid to Jews not as conscious resistance to the policies of persecution and genocide, but as the anomalous behavior of individual “misled people,” “eccentrics out of touch with life.” However, according to Professor Ursula Bütner, the actions of such Germans “do not lend themselves to generalization and typification.” The conclusion of Professor Wolfgang Benz is in agreement: these are isolated cases that need to be interpreted individually.

Some knew those being rescued well, others did not, or even saw them for the first time - this also happened. For example, there is an episode when one of the residents of Berlin spontaneously offered shelter to a pregnant Jewish woman she did not know. At the very end of the war, even individual members of the NSDAP sheltered Jews with the obvious purpose of using this service as a mitigating circumstance after the collapse of Nazism.

As a rule, several, or even dozens of people participated in the rescue of each of the survivors. Thus, the future publicist Inga Deutschkron and her mother sheltered, supplied documents and food to about 20 Germans. In some cases, the number of people helping reached 50-60. However, there are examples where just one person hid an entire family for a number of years.

It was more difficult for men of military age to survive in the underground than for others - they attracted more attention, especially during raids on deserters. Without reliable false documents, they could not appear on the streets; during a personal search, circumcision would give them away. Childless women found it easier to find an apartment and income - they were usually hired as servants. It was more difficult for women with children and pregnant women, for whom it was most dangerous to provide shelter. Of course, for all those being sheltered, the degree of “expressiveness of Jewish appearance” was of considerable importance.

In fairness, we note that there were cases when the desperate situation of the persecuted was taken advantage of. The survivors avoided talking about it so as not to appear ungrateful. One of the few confessions belongs to the Jewish communist Ilse Shtilman, who had been hiding in Berlin since February 1943: “I experienced [all this firsthand] - women wanted to have cheap servants, men wanted to sleep with someone.”

In some cases, the owners who sheltered Jews completely disinterestedly accepted the costs of their maintenance, in others, the Jews paid for their maintenance themselves. Only a few of those who helped Jews cross the border with Switzerland took payment for services, but, as a rule, their material interest was intertwined with other motives - opposition to the regime, religious and humanitarian motives, love of adventure.

In the post-war decades, the fate of the Germans who saved Jews was not easy. Neither in Germany nor in the GDR they were considered participants in the Resistance, which included only those whose actions were directly aimed at overthrowing the Nazi regime. However, the behavior of the saviors, which after the war was recognized as “normal human”, was undoubtedly resistance, since it struck the ideological nerve of the regime - the theory and practice of Nazi racial policy.

The names of the rescuers remained practically unknown to the general public: the media and authorities did not mention them. The main reason for this attitude, German historian Peter Steinbach believes, is the reluctance of most Germans to remember their own behavior, often inglorious. Public attention focused mainly on the “people of July 20,” whose conspiracy against Hitler had long been presented in Germany as almost the only manifestation of the Resistance. Therefore, to the question “could I, a small simple person, do something against the regime?” millions calmly answered “no.” However, if the same powerless, uninfluential people who dared to sabotage the policies of the fascists were in the center of public attention, then all this silent majority would no longer look in such a rosy light.

The health of the saviors could not help but be affected by the consequences of long-term stress; people got sick and became disabled, so many of them earned only tiny pensions. The occupation authorities began, and since 1953, the German government continued, “compensation for damage.” However, the law was formulated in such a way that few were able to receive the promised compensation. Only in West Berlin the situation was different. In 1958, on the initiative of Heinz Galinsky, chairman of the Jewish community, a fund was created for the moral and material encouragement of “unsung heroes” (a term from the book of the same name by Kurt Grossman, published in 1957). Galinsky's initiative was supported by the magistrate and the city treasury, West Berlin Senator for Internal Affairs Joachim Lipschitz, a half-Jew who himself had been hiding underground since 1944. In 1958, the first certificates of honor were awarded; since 1960, the procedure for awarding them was regulated by land law. The right to honor, and, if necessary, to financial assistance (one-time or in the form of a pension), was given to residents of Berlin who “selflessly and significantly” helped those persecuted under Nazism. The honor was held publicly, usually in the building of the Jewish community on Fasenenstrasse. Until 1966, 738 people received certificates. Attempts to encourage other lands to take similar actions were unsuccessful. Only in the 70s, when the social atmosphere changed as a result of the student unrest of 1968, did the “unsung heroes” begin to be honored at the federal level - the President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded them the “Cross of Merit”. In the 90s, the turn came to the eastern lands.

In 2001, at a ceremony in Berlin dedicated to the memory of Jews hiding underground and the Germans who helped them, German President Johannes said: “We have every reason to be proud of these men and women.” Inga Deutschkron, who participated in the ceremony, formulated the purpose of her books about the saviors: to show new generations of Germans that some of their ancestors were ready to resist injustice at great risk to themselves.

Marcus Wolfson was one of the first to study the activities of “unsung heroes” and believed that its popularization could contribute to the formation of conscious citizens of a democratic society. After all, true stories with their exciting drama are fertile material for schoolchildren. Such stories reflect the entire spectrum of positions, the entire variety of motives that took place in society. Abstract categories - “Germans”, “Nazis”, “Jews” acquire concrete content; comprehends the meaning of general concepts - Nazism, Holocaust, Resistance; value judgments inseparable from historical knowledge are gradually formed.

However, in general, the attitude towards this issue in Germany remains the same. According to Christoph Hamann, none of the schools in the 16 German states contain the topic “Rescue and Survival” in their curricula. The Holocaust is not associated with the Resistance, which continues to include only organized activities. The textbooks only talk about the conspiracy of July 20, 1944, some youth groups, cells of the labor movement, and church oppositionists. If examples of helping the persecuted are given, then only the most famous are the activities of Schindler and Countess Malzahn.

What's the matter? Is it really a complex of guilt and shame for what he did? And in a defensive reaction: they say, how much longer should I repent and how much, by the way, should I pay?

Maybe. Professor Benz, who heads the Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism in Berlin, considers this complex and the reaction to it to be more significant components of modern anti-Semitism in Germany than traditional Christian anti-Judaism or racism.

Calls to “finally draw a line under the past” are becoming louder, which for many means simply forgetting it. Survey data indicate that these calls find a response among a certain part of young people. However, preserving the memory of the past, including the “unsung heroes,” is a guarantee that the times that living generations have witnessed will never be repeated.

Material prepared for publication by Sofia Kugel (Boston)

Since childhood, we have heard about the atrocities of the German invaders, in particular about the executions and cruel treatment of Soviet prisoners of war. And here we must admit that yes, such episodes took place during the war, but rather as exceptions or a response to the actions of the partisans and cruelty on the part of Soviet soldiers towards Germans who were captured. But what you definitely won’t see on TV or in history books are facts about the humane attitude of German soldiers towards captured Red Army soldiers. Well, it is not customary for us to give the enemy a human form, because the more terrible the enemy, the more glory and honor will go to his winners. And in the rays of this glory, our own crimes against humanity fade. We, in turn, invite you to familiarize yourself with the material, which proves that German soldiers and doctors provided medical assistance to prisoners and civilians of the occupied territory of the USSR and sent captured Soviet medical personnel to prisoner of war camps, where their work was in demand. Although, of course, there will be those who will say that the photos are staged, and in general, all this is Goebbels propaganda. We will advise them to continue learning history from Soviet and Russian films about the Great Patriotic War.

Soldiers of the SS division "Das Reich" provide medical assistance to a wounded Red Army soldier. Kursk 1943

Among the vineyards under the merciless scorching sun lay many wounded Russians. Deprived of the opportunity to quench their thirst, they awaited death in the open. It became necessary for German medical personnel to try to save them, and Russian doctors and nurses were brought in from the prison camps to help comb the hills for wounded Russian soldiers. Russian doctors had to make a lot of efforts to convince lightly injured patients to go to medical centers. Sometimes it was necessary to resort to the help of stakes pulled out of the ground in the vineyards in order to force the wounded to move in the direction of the medical posts. (c) Biderman Gottlob - In mortal combat. Memoirs of an anti-tank crew commander. 1941-1945.

Medics of the 260th Wehrmacht Infantry Division provide assistance to captured wounded Red Army soldiers. District of the village of Romanishchi, Gomel region.

The field hospital is in full swing. Without hesitation, I immediately join. While we are operating, a continuous line of Ivans comes to the infirmary. Having surrendered their weapons, they surrender themselves. Apparently, a rumor spread through their ranks that we do not harm prisoners of war. In a few hours, our infirmary serves over a hundred prisoners of war. (c) Hans Killian - In the shadow of victories. German surgeon on the eastern front 1941–1943.

The Germans provide first aid to a Soviet colonel from the 5th Guards Tank Army. Kursk, July 1943

And I ask the chief doctor to immediately send this fierce lady (a captured Soviet paramedic - ed.) to a prisoner of war camp. Russian doctors are urgently needed there. (c) Hans Killian - In the shadow of victories. German surgeon on the eastern front 1941–1943.

Two Luftwaffe officers bandage the hand of a wounded Red Army prisoner. 1941

There were periods of multi-day Russian attacks. There were dead and wounded on both sides. We tried to get ours out every evening. We also took Russian wounded prisoners, if there were any. On the second or third day at night, we heard someone in the neutral zone moaning in Russian: “mama, mama.” My squad and I crawled out to look for this wounded man. It was suspiciously quiet, but we understood that the Russians would also crawl out after him. We found him. This soldier was wounded in the elbow by an explosive bullet. Only the Russians had such bullets, although they were prohibited. We also used them if we captured them from the Russians. My soldiers began to help him, and I moved forward and watched the Russian side. Five meters away from me I saw Russians, also about a squad. We opened fire, and the Russians threw a grenade at us. The Russians retreated, we also retreated, taking the wounded. We took him to the dressing station. There he was operated on and sent further, probably to Staraya Russa. Our wounded were not sent immediately to a hospital in Germany, but through at least three hospitals along the way, and each was better, higher level than the previous one. In the first, near the front line, there was only initial processing, rough, then better. (c) Excerpt from an interview with Klaus Alexander Dierschka.

A German provides medical assistance to a Soviet prisoner.

After the capture of Sevastopol, hundreds of thousands of Russian wounded lay there who needed help. And then a military doctor I knew got permission to take captured Russian doctors from a prisoner of war camp - and they treated the wounded and the population. German doctors did more than Russians! They saved many lives. And it was completely different when the Russians entered here in Germany. They didn't do anything, didn't save anyone. There have never been rapes on the German side, like in East Prussia! You've definitely heard something about this - there the German civilian population, the peasants, were killed, and the women were raped, and everyone was killed. This caused terrible disgust in Germany and greatly increased the will to resist. Young people, 16-17 year old schoolchildren, were called in to stop this violence from the east. This is, of course, a thing that, like a big bell, awakened the instinct of self-preservation of the nation - these unpleasant things that happened there. The same thing in Katyn - the Russians denied it for years, they said that the Germans did it. There was a lot of dirt there! (c) Excerpt from an interview with Dreffs Johannes

An SS man provides assistance to a Red Army soldier.

In Apolinovka, north of Dnepropetrovsk, the local Russian population was treated by our Dutch doctor, an SS Hauptsturmführer, completely free of charge. (c) Excerpt from an interview with Jan Münch.

A German military doctor examines a sick child. Oryol Region. 1942

Doctors from the SS Division "Toten's Head" provide assistance to sick Soviet children, whose mothers brought them to a medical center opened in the village by the Germans. THE USSR. 1941

A German soldier bandages a wounded Russian girl. 1941

End of 1943 Wehrmacht orderlies take care of Russian refugees fleeing the Red Army.

Hero of the Soviet Union, Major Yakov Ivanovich Antonov from the 25th IAP in German captivity, surrounded by German pilots, after providing medical assistance.

A medic and Luftwaffe fighter squadron pilots assist a downed Soviet pilot.

Medics of the 5th SS Viking Division provide assistance to a wounded Red Army soldier.

A German soldier bandages a Red Army soldier captured near the Titovka station in the Murmansk region.

A German infantryman helps a wounded Red Army soldier.

German soldiers help a wounded enemy. Stalingrad.

SS soldiers near a wounded Soviet pilot of a U-2 plane shot down on the Kursk Bulge.

A mountain ranger orderly examines the wound of a captured Red Army soldier.

Alexander Medem is a high school student. Voronezh, 1890s. Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

Generous Medems

Count Alexander's father, Otton Ludwigovich Medem, was the governor of Novgorod. When a riot broke out in the city in 1905, he resolutely walked into the middle of the rioting meeting, took off his cap, bowed to the people and spoke in a low voice to the rioters. And people soon dispersed, reassured.

In Novgorod, a kind governor stood up for a widow who had become a victim of deception by a dishonest merchant: he extracted bills from the poor woman for a large sum. The governor himself went to the deceiver and asked to see the bills. As soon as the securities were in the hands of the governor, he threw them into the fireplace with the words:

“I had no right to do this, and you can sue me.”

The merchant did not sue, and the widow's property was saved.

Otton Ludvigovich with Alexandra Dmitrievna. 1890s, Alexander's parents. Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

The best character traits of his father were inherited by his son, Count Alexander (1877-1931). He was raised in the Lutheran faith, like his father. His kindness was amazing, and his generosity knew no bounds. Instead of living in a densely populated western city, the count chose to stay on the family estate of Alexandria (now the village of Severny in the north of the Saratov region). Introduced the latest agricultural technologies.

More than once he had to help out local residents. For the Medem family, it was completely natural to give a horse to a poor peasant, a cow to a large family, give the peasant a ride in his carriage, and get out of it himself, so that it would be easier for the horse to drive up the mountain...

According to contemporaries, he knew every hired peasant and selected only the best workers, personally toured the estates and monitored the progress of work. His daughter Alexandra wrote that her father easily communicated with people and endeared himself to everyone. He knew how to behave appropriately in any society, but did not like to be in those aristocratic circles where there were many conventions. And when, during the revolutionary riots, the landowners' estates began to be plundered, in the Saratov province the people shouted: “Death to the landowners! Except Medem!

Daughter's illness

Alexander Medem with his daughter Elena. 1910s Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

Count Alexander Medem had a lot of pain in his life, so he shared the suffering of other people and tried to help with all his might.

His beloved wife Maria fell ill with cholera during pregnancy.

The medications that the doctors gave her were harmful: her daughter Elena was born sick: she could not speak, did not control her body, could not even chew.

But despite the severity of the illness, consciousness was preserved, and the girl’s face was unusually pretty. Elena reacted to the way she was treated: she cried when the tone was strict, and she laughed when the tone was gentle. She rejoiced at the sight of her mother, whom she resembled more than other children: huge blue eyes, black eyebrows and hair, delicate skin... The girl often had seizures of convulsions of the whole body, during which she screamed loudly in pain.

The loving hearts of the parents were torn. The Count was very worried about the child; this grief was the last decisive moment in his acceptance of Orthodoxy. On his estate, he built a temple in honor of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen, the patron saint of his sick daughter. In total, Alexander Medem had four children. He himself grew up in a friendly large family.

Civil War

Alexander Ottonovich Medem in the First World War. . Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

When the civil war began, Alexander Ottonovich agreed with his two brothers that, being “Russians,” they would not raise a hand against their own and would not take part in the civil war.

Count Alexander Ottonovich celebrated Christmas 1915 on the front line of the Western Front together with the soldiers: he accompanied wagons of gifts for military personnel there. A few months later, Medem returned to the combat zone as the head of the medical and nutritional detachment. Often he and other volunteers had to take out wounded soldiers under fire and provide first aid.

The Count came face to face with death more than once. He had to see the action of German technologies of mass destruction used by soldiers of the enemy army. He saw Russian soldiers die from chemical burns inflicted by the weapons of the inventive German mind. His heart was infinitely kind, but fragile: during the war with the count he had a heart attack. Then he returned to his estate Alexandria.

Imprisonment

Temple in honor of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helena in the Medem estate of Alexandria. 1916-17 Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

In 1918, the Bolsheviks arrested Count Alexander and sentenced him to death, but before the execution of the sentence he was allowed to go home and say goodbye to his family. The count was ready to return to prison the next morning, but the next day the Bolsheviks were driven out of the city by the Whites, and the sentence was canceled by itself.

In the summer of 1919, Alexander Medem was again imprisoned. Returning from prison, he said that he had never prayed so well anywhere as in prison, where death knocks on the door at night, and whose turn is unknown. His letter to his son has been preserved, very touching, full of care, faith, and love.

Here are his last lines: “Believe firmly, without hesitation, always pray fervently and with faith that the Lord will hear you, fear nothing in the world except the Lord God and your conscience guided by Him - do not take anything into account; never offend anyone (of course, I’m talking about a blood, life-related offense that remains forever) - and I think that good will happen. Christ is with you, my boy, my beloved. Mom and I constantly think about you, thank God for you and pray for you... I hug you tightly, baptize you and love you. The Lord is with you. Your father".

They say that war hardens, corrupts, etc. But something completely different happened to Count Alexander.

His wife, who knew him like no one else, wrote about her husband: “Over these years, he has grown unusually morally. I have never seen such faith, such peace and tranquility of soul, such true freedom and strength of spirit in my life. This is not only my opinion, which may be biased - everyone sees this, and this is what we live for - nothing else, for the very fact that we exist as such a family, having nothing but hope in the Lord God, proves this...”

“Tell me one more word goodbye”

Alexander Medem. Photo from criminal case No. 7. 1929 Photo from pravoslavie.ru

In December 1925, the count buried his wife, who died of tuberculosis. Before this, he prayed long and fervently for her recovery, believing in the possibility of healing. Only when her phlegm stopped coming out did Alexander begin to prepare for his wife’s death. She was given communion before her death, and the pain subsided. The husband held his dying wife's hand. She began to call and bless the children, and pray for those relatives who were not around at that moment.

The count recalled: “My heart was breaking, and I told her that the Lord would call me as soon as possible - “I cannot live without you.”

She pressed my head tightly and said: “Don’t cry, my dear, I know you will be with me soon.” Her eyes were always fixed on the icon of the Mother of God, which hung on the wall of the hallway, and she prayed until the last minute.”

But Alexander really wanted to hear his beloved voice, so he asked: “Manyushenka, tell me at least one more word.” Maria, tightly squeezing her husband’s hand for the last time, said: “My dear, I feel so good, so good - I just feel sorry for you.” These were her last words. But even in that terrible hour, he did not lose trust in God: “Obviously, this is necessary, and, obviously, this is better. His will be done."

Soon after her mother, her daughter Elena died.

Alexander Ottonovich himself died on April 1, 1931 in the Syzran prison hospital from pulmonary edema. In prison, the Count showed rare fortitude and calm. He was canonized in 2000. Now books have been written about the holy martyr, films have been made, a gymnasium has been named in his honor, a museum has been opened and a temple has been restored on the site of his former estate.

A series of photographs depicting the humane attitude of German soldiers towards the soldiers of the Red Army and the Russian population in the Great Patriotic War.

SS men resting in a Soviet village.

An SS man provides assistance to a Red Army soldier.

This military grave belongs to the Russian General Smirnov, who fell in the Battle of Andreevka, and was buried by his enemy, the German General Guba, in October 1941.

Kursk, July 1943. The Germans provide first aid to a Soviet colonel from the 5th Guards Tank Army.

Humanity on the battlefield of Stalingrad. German soldiers help a wounded enemy.

A German Landser helps a wounded Red Army soldier.

A captured Soviet soldier receives medical care.

1943, Kuban bridgehead. German orderlies and a Red Army soldier work together to save a wounded man.

German soldier, Soviet prisoner of war.

On the day of the Harvest Festival, Wehrmacht soldiers visit Russian children's hospitals and distribute gifts to children.

German soldiers share food from the field kitchen with Russian civilians.

Easter, 1942 German soldiers with residents of a Russian village.

End of 1943 Wehrmacht orderlies take care of Russian refugees fleeing Stalin's army.

German soldiers with Ukrainian girls.

German soldiers of the 19th Tank Division and Russian children in a village near Orel during a break in the fighting.

(Top photo). Waffen-SS fighters with Russian women.
(Bottom photo). A German field doctor takes care of Russian civilians.

The next three photographs were taken at the Pavlovsk hospital (Slutsk) at the gates of Leningrad, where German surgeon Dr. Ewald Kleist of the 121st Infantry Division, together with German and Russian colleagues, provide care to both Germans and Russians alike.

German soldiers help the Russians with the harvest.

German soldiers spend the night in the house of a Russian family.

For many years, German soldiers were accused of desecrating the Yasnaya Polyana estate (famous for the fact that Russian writer Leo Tolstoy lived and worked there).

As a result of many years of work, the German publicist Sterzl managed to prove that the Germans not only did not desecrate Yasnaya Polyana, but, on the contrary, carefully monitored and protected it. The photo shows Tolstoy's great-granddaughter, Sophia, in conversation with a German soldier.

Ten Commandments for the conduct of war by the German soldier.

Translation:

1. A German soldier fights like a knight for the victory of his people. The German soldier’s concepts of honor and dignity do not allow for the manifestation of brutality and cruelty.

2. The soldier is required to wear a uniform; wearing other attire is permitted provided that distinguishable (from a distance) distinctive signs are used. Conducting combat operations in civilian clothes without the use of distinctive insignia is prohibited.

3. It is prohibited to kill an enemy who surrenders; this rule also applies to partisans or spies who surrender. The latter will receive a fair punishment in court.

4. Harassment and insults of prisoners of war are prohibited. Weapons, documents, notes and drawings are subject to confiscation. Other property belonging to prisoners of war is inviolable.

5. Unreasonable shooting is prohibited. Shots should not be accompanied by acts of arbitrariness.

6. The Red Cross is inviolable. A wounded enemy must be treated humanely. It is prohibited to interfere with the activities of medical personnel and field priests.

7. The civilian population is inviolable. A soldier is prohibited from engaging in robbery or other violent acts. Historical monuments, as well as buildings serving religious services, buildings that are used for cultural, scientific and other socially beneficial purposes are subject to special protection and respect. The right to give work and official assignments to the civilian population belongs to representatives of the management team. The latter issue appropriate orders. Carrying out work and official assignments must be carried out on a reimbursable, paid basis.

8. It is prohibited to attack (cross or fly) neutral territory. Firing and combat operations on neutral territory are prohibited.

9. A German soldier who is captured and under interrogation must provide information regarding his name and rank. Under no circumstances should he provide information regarding his affiliation with a particular military unit, as well as data related to military, political or economic relations inherent in the German side. The transfer of this data is prohibited, even if it is requested through promises or threats.

10. Violation of these instructions committed during the performance of official duties is punishable by punishment. Facts and information indicating violations committed by the enemy in terms of compliance with the rules enshrined in paragraphs 1-8 of these instructions are subject to reporting. Carrying out retaliatory measures is permitted only if there is a direct order given by senior army leadership.

History is written by the victors, which is what the Soviet Union did in relation to Germany: for example, it attributed its own crimes to it (such as the Katyn massacre). But more importantly, the Soviet Union bears great responsibility for the Holocaust.

Mass killings are not at all typical of the Germans with their law and order mentality. The Germans learned this from the Russians. Two years before the Nazis began loading Jews into cattle cars, Russian secret services had already done this to the Poles. Since the winter of 1940, about 400 thousand people were displaced from the territory of Poland occupied by Soviet troops. The USSR increased the intensity of mass violence gradually, meticulously testing various schemes. Everything was tried: labor camps in which people died from cold and hunger, mass executions of enemies of the people (which could have been anyone), ethnic cleansing of territories. Taken together, these three components paved the way for genocide.

In many cases, forced relocation was difficult, but it could not be called genocide. Only the Russians drove the Poles into carriages in forty-degree frost, already causing the death of many of them. Only Poles were shot en masse, about 110 thousand in total, and their only fault was their nationality.

What did Stalin not like about the Poles? The answer becomes clear if you look at the statistics. Five months after the Soviet occupation of Poland, 93 thousand people were arrested, of which 23 thousand were Jews, 41 thousand Poles and 21 thousand Ukrainians. The Poles personally insulted the Bolshevik leadership when they defeated the Russian aggressors in 1919–21. Western Ukrainians consistently resisted the rise of Russian power. But why were proportionately more Jews arrested than other nationalities?

After visiting Moscow, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop issued a communique, which Soviet newspapers published on September 20, 1939. It said, in particular: “The Soviet-German friendship is founded forever... Both countries wish for the continuation of peace and an end to the fruitless struggle of England and France with Germany. If, however, warmongers prevail in these countries, Germany and the USSR will know how to react.” In German jargon, the “warmongers” were the Jews.

It is noteworthy that the Nazi leaders, as far as is known from their diaries and minutes of meetings, were convinced that the Jews were pushing Great Britain and the United States into war with Germany. The Jewish establishment only reinforced this suspicion by calling for a boycott of Germany: they wanted Germany to integrate its Jews, while the Zionists tried to take advantage of the situation and encourage Jewish emigration to Israel.

Obviously, Stalin shared the same belief system, namely that international Jewish guarantees opposed the spread of communism. Strange, but the Russian tyrant looked back at world public opinion: that is why he divided Poland with Germany, and did not conquer it all. Only two weeks after the Germans ended the Polish state, the Soviet Union invaded its half. In this light, the world Jewish lobby presented a problem for Stalin. In addition, the Jews interfered with Stalin on another issue: he believed in the proximity of the world crisis and the world communist revolution, and therefore the real enemies were the Jews - capitalists and, in general, far from proletarians. During the Great Depression, the coming of communist paradise seemed especially close, and its enemies did not deserve human treatment.

Stalin's pre-war attitude towards Jews is evident from how actively he cleared Soviet ministries and highest government institutions of them. This is especially true for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the spring of 1939. He handed over to the Nazis German communist refugees living in the USSR - mostly Jews. For their part, the Nazis treated both Jews and communists with the same brush. This is despite the fact that most German Jews were inclined towards capitalist entrepreneurship.

The spiral began to twist on its own, and now the Germans decided that the source of the Russian threat to them was the Jewish Bolsheviks. But there really was such a threat: the Soviet army was head and shoulders superior to the German one. The USSR had several times more infantry, tanks, aircraft, and artillery, not to mention the noticeable qualitative superiority of Russian weapons. If in 1939 the Nazi leadership expected to win in an alliance with the USSR, then already in 1941 it considered the Soviet Union a mortal enemy.

The Nazi army was very weak. The Treaty of Versailles imposed demilitarization on Germany, and an entire generation of soldiers lacked military training. Shackled by sanctions, German industry produced mostly second-rate weapons. Even a minor military campaign in Poland took four weeks. Germany lost the air war to Great Britain, despite being outnumbered many times over. Over time, the African campaign was also lost. France was defeated more strategically than through brute military force. The Germans were well aware of their weakness and did not even try to capture France: formally, this country remained independent and even signed an armistice agreement with Germany.

But even such dubious achievements would have been impossible without massive support for the Nazis by the Soviet Union. Since the 1920s, the USSR helped Germany in every possible way, from the placement of German military factories and schools in circumvention of the Versailles Treaty to the supply of oil, grain and metal. Soviet-German military training and rearmament programs developed. For Germany, devastated by the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles, Soviet assistance was indispensable. Austria and occupied France had nothing to offer Germany, and the Swedes and Swiss traded for hard currency, which Germany did not have.

Stalin collaborated not so much with Germany as such, but specifically with the Nazis. For years he threw mud at the German Communist Party and interfered with its fight against the Nazis. Ideology is ideology, but Stalin was not interested in losers.

The Soviet Union was Germany's main political partner. These two countries cooperated very closely: the same division of Poland was discussed back in the early 1920s. During the war between Germany and Great Britain, the USSR hosted the German fleet in Murmansk and also supplied oil from which fuel for German aviation was made. Soviet-German cooperation was amazing: Germany annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia, the USSR annexed Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia; Germany forced France to conclude an armistice, and the USSR did the same with regard to Finland; both countries divided Poland between themselves; The Soviet Union financially helped Germany in the war with Great Britain.
The agreement to divide Poland was as necessary for Germany as air, because in 1939 it could not invade the Soviet sphere of influence. This was not possible in 1941 either: the Barbarossa plan worked only because Soviet and German troops were located very close, so that a tiny number of German bombers could make many short sorties. Poland was a buffer that prevented Germany from delivering a crushing first blow to the Red Army. A German invasion of Poland without the consent of the USSR would have led to war with a fully mobilized and incredibly strong Soviet army.

Germany's war with the USSR was an apocalyptic enterprise that the Nazis launched solely to prevent a Russian first strike. The Barbarossa plan was incredibly stupid: it envisaged an advance of 2,400 km to Arkhangelsk in four months, mostly over difficult terrain. The Soviet campaign was expected to be won before the end of the British one, despite the huge difference in the scale of operations. No factor of surprise allowed us to hope for victory over the much stronger Red Army. The Germans planned to carry out encirclements with a ridiculously small number of tanks, and the bombing was carried out by literally a few aircraft. The German headquarters understood all these limitations, but it simply had no other choice: it was confronted by gigantic Soviet forces, ready to invade the German sphere of interests. As Soviet documents show, these calculations were correct. Thus, in May 1941, the Soviet High Command issued a document of a clearly offensive nature: “Considerations on the plan for the strategic deployment of the Armed Forces of the USSR in the event of war by Germany and its allies.” The concentration of the best Soviet tanks on the border recesses into German-controlled territory on the eve of the war left no doubt about the intentions of the Communists.

The initial victories of the Germans can only be explained by the complete lack of experienced commanders in the Red Army and hatred of communists and Jews. These were not victories of the Wehrmacht, but collapse and disorganization in the Red Army itself in the first months of the war, when the totalitarian reins were temporarily weakened.

But let's return to the Jewish topic. The Germans did not plan massacres until 1942. They killed their mentally ill people, but not yet the Jews, although it is clear that the German public would have accepted their executions much more calmly. At first, neither mentally ill Jews nor even German communist Jews were killed. The Germans collaborated with the Zionists on the issue of relocating Jews to other countries. Zionist education, agricultural and somewhat camouflaged military training were carried out with the express permission of the Nazi authorities. The Germans even allowed Jewish emigrants to export significant amounts of foreign currency. Unfortunately, American Jewish organizations blocked all German efforts; for these organizations it was preferable for the Jews to remain in the Diaspora. To annoy Germany with the Jewish problem, the USA and Great Britain did not agree to resettle refugees to any country in the world, including their own Jewish homeland, which was allocated to us by the League of Nations. The well-known German plan for the resettlement of Jews to Madagascar was not a mockery at all, but a completely serious attempt to find an acceptable country. As a supporter of the transfer of Arabs from Israel, I see nothing wrong with the Germans wanting to be free of their Jews, as long as it was done in a relatively bloodless manner.
The Germans began executions for three reasons. First, the Allies blocked all Jewish resettlement routes. Jewish refugees could not obtain visas. When they crossed the border illegally, Switzerland sent them back to the Nazis. Britain pressured Bulgaria and Romania to tighten their lenient border regime and prevent Jews from escaping. The British forced Turkey to refuse to provide asylum to the Jews because they could then move “illegally” into the Land of Israel.

The second reason: the Germans were thirsty for revenge. They believed that Jews were an instrument of Soviet and American aggression against Germany. This assumption, although incorrect, made some sense: seeing that international Jewry was fiercely resisting pogroms and other manifestations of German unfriendliness towards Jews, the Nazis realized that the war was a continuation of the boycott.

The third reason lies in the apocalyptic mood that seized the Nazi leaders when they decided to go to war with the USSR. They began to dream of destroying the Jews and thereby changing the world.

Many peoples took part in the Holocaust: almost all European countries, Americans and some Arabs. But without the Soviet Union, the Catastrophe would have been impossible. The communists, who included a suspiciously large number of Jews, were preparing to deal Germany a fatal blow: by concluding a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939, Stalin encouraged it to attack Britain, which further weakened the Germans. Based on the massive rearmament of the Red Army, the Germans guessed about Stalin's aggressive intentions and themselves began to pull troops to the border. The Germans understood what the bet was on: the USSR was going to crush most of their army with one blow. Such treachery demanded revenge, and the Germans chose the Jews for it.
The Soviet Union showed Germany that mass ethnic cleansing was both effective and acceptable in the eyes of the world community. Soviet labor camps were less lethal for Jews than German labor camps, but Jews also had it worse in Soviet labor camps than other peoples. And the mortality rate in the Gulag even exceeded the rates in Nazi camps for non-Jews. Thus, out of 1 million 800 thousand German prisoners of war captured after the war, about 400 thousand died. German labor camps were copied from Soviet ones; There was nothing like this in any other country at that time.

In 1940, the Soviet Union began open ethnic cleansing against Jews, but a few months earlier, the Russians and Germans had already divided Poland. As a result, Jewish cities fell into the hands of the Nazis, who at that time were already actively repressing the Jewish population. When some Polish Jews managed to escape the Nazis, the Russians interned them in Central Asia. Many interned there survived, which gave rise to a persistent rumor that Soviet Jews spent the war in Tashkent.

Stalin saved the lives of quite a few Jews, but mostly these were the families of communist officials. About a million such Jews, mostly from Western Ukraine and Russia, fled the advancing German forces. After the war, they changed the face of Eastern European Jewry, which turned into full-blown communists.

The Soviet Union openly assisted the Nazis in executions. Although massacres were known already on the first day of the war, information was deliberately suppressed. Given the variety of Soviet sources of information and press organs, instructions were required from the very top to remove any mention of the murders of Jews. Soviet propaganda operated even in the occupied territories - on the radio, through leaflets and rumors. However, the Jews continued to be in the dark about their fate and remained where they were. The state is responsible to its citizens. There might not have been enough trains, but what was stopping them from simply warning the Jews so that they would at least try to escape on foot? And the problem of logistics is far-fetched: during the retreat, the Red Army evacuated millions of family members of communist activists, and there would certainly have been a place for Jews. In many cases, Soviet authorities discouraged and even forbade Jews from leaving. Border guards sent back many Jewish refugees, especially from Latvia.

The Soviet ruling circles also contributed to the Holocaust by providing the Germans with information about the residence of Jews. Before the German offensive, most Soviet offices destroyed documents: burning papers was a common practice. But residence and registration documents were left intact in all cities, which allowed the Germans to quickly identify Jews. Many of the Jews were assimilated and could not be identified in any other way.

Soviet propaganda perfectly countered German propaganda. Soviet radio broadcasts debunked all German claims except one: that the war was provoked by Jews. The population already hated Jews and Jewish Bolsheviks (half a million Russians and Ukrainians joined the Nazi army), so silence on this issue on the radio was perceived as a silent confirmation of German anti-Semitism propaganda. Ordinary Soviet people actively helped the Germans identify Jews.

The disaster was led by the Germans, but the labor was supplied by the Slavs. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Slovaks, Croats, and many Russians worked in the camps and execution squads.

The Soviet Union was very careful not to interfere with the Holocaust. In tens of thousands of bomber missions to Germany through Poland, the extermination camps were carefully avoided: not a single bomb fell on them. The Russians bombed objects some kilometers away from the camps, but not the camps themselves. In Belarus, Soviet partisans waged a full-scale war with the Germans, blowing up railways and infrastructure, but there was not a single organized attempt to either prevent the killings, or help the inhabitants of the ghetto, or even simply notify them of their fate.

The Russians reaffirmed their Jewish policy in 1953, when the entire country applauded the authorities' anti-Semitic rhetoric. Plans were developed for the resettlement of Jews to Siberia, which were prevented only by the death of Stalin. It was a unique plan of ethnic cleansing, comparable only to the Polish one. Jews were specially transported to their death: they were to be loaded into cattle cars, as under the Nazis, and taken to the coldest regions of Siberia, where their only housing would be barracks made of tar paper. In such conditions, the chances of surviving the winter were zero.

After the war, the Soviet leadership covered up the German killings of Jews, although other atrocities were widely reported. The word “Jew” was removed from all reports and official events, and the vague term “Soviet citizens” was used instead. This policy cannot be explained by the fact that the state condoned popular anti-Semitism: it has always been indifferent to public opinion. In addition, as practice shows, anti-Semites are not at all against it when Jews are mentioned in reports about the Holocaust. The state hushed up the killing of Jews for the same reason it hushed up many other events of the war, such as massive collaboration with the Nazis: the communist regime swept shameful events under the rug. The authorities did not want the population to question who helped the killers.

The Soviet Union did not save the Jews: the Germans killed almost all the Jews they could find. In occupied Soviet territory, the Germans killed almost 100% of the Jews. If the war had lasted a few more years, the number of Jewish deaths would not have increased significantly. The Soviet Union raised the Nazi regime and provoked the war. Regardless of its victory, the Soviet regime bears responsibility for the Holocaust.