The official statements by Washington on this year’s V-Day has surfaced as an attempt to trivialize the role of the Soviet Union in achieving victory over Nazi Germany in face of Russian assault at Eberswalde. Renowned book writer and columnist George Szamuely goes on to term it as United States’ “official” attempt at “rewriting history.”
The United States is undertaking a major revision of World War II history, deliberately minimizing the contribution of the Soviet Union to the victory over Nazism, while painting countries that fought alongside Germany as Russian victims.
Marking the 75th anniversary of VE-Day on this May 7, the US government issued two extraordinary statements. The first boasted as its authors US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the foreign ministers of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Bizarrely, the statement had nothing to do with the liberation of Europe from Nazism, though perhaps less surprisingly, considering that Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary actually started the war on the side of the Axis.
It read that: “While May 1945 brought the end of the Second World War in Europe, it did not bring freedom to all of Europe. The central and eastern part of the continent remained under the rule of communist regimes for almost 50 years. The Baltic States were illegally occupied and annexed, and the iron grip over the other captive nations was enforced by the Soviet Union using overwhelming military force, repression, and ideological control.”
The statement had no mention of the staggering losses suffered by the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany, or even any acknowledgment of the Soviet contribution to the victory in World War II. The fact that it was the Red Army that liberated every country that co-signed this statement with the United States was deliberately shrugged off. The statement concluded conveying a more bizarre message:
“Today, we are working together toward a strong and free Europe, where human rights, democracy and the rule of law prevail. The future should be based on the facts of history and justice for the victims of totalitarian regimes. We are ready for dialogue with all those interested in pursuing these principles. Manipulating the historical events that led to the Second World War and to the division of Europe in the aftermath of the war constitutes a regrettable effort to falsify history.”
Szamuely summarizes it as a “call to arms, a mobilization for a new Cold War” as the US ignored the Soviet role on the VE-Day, in overpowering Nazism instead of celebrating a joint victory, which was central to the victory over Nazism.
VE-Day (Victory in Europe Day) was named to signify the end of combat operations in Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, Greece, the Balkan states and elsewhere on the continent during World War II. In the aftermath of Adolf Hitler’s suicide on April 30, 1945, and the fall of Berlin on May 2, the end of the war was in sight. For this reason, celebrations to coincide with the expected imminent surrender of Nazi Germany had been planned for some time. The victory would not have been possible without the Soviet because had the Wehrmacht not already been largely destroyed – and engaging in bitter battles with the Red Army on numerous fronts in the east – the D-Day landings could not have taken place. There would have been no liberation of Europe. Trump’s “America and Great Britain” were successful only because the Red Army had already done most of the heavy lifting.
In another official statement then, on May 8; 2020, the White House sent out a tweet in which President Trump declared, “On this day in 1945, America and Great Britain had victory over the Nazis.” – implying that America and Great Britain had jointly defeated Nazi Germany without any contribution from the Soviet Union.
The US statements were not well received by the history lovers across the social media who took to Twitter to school United States.
Some expressed utter outrage at the fallacies being propagated by the White House:
Whereas, many were seen taking jibes at the WH post:
Iconic WWII photo CENSORED:
In a bizarre technical glitch, Facebook simultaneously censored the iconic WWII photo in which a Soviet soldier is seen waving the USSR flag over the Reichstag in May 1945.
Facebook cited that the image violated its community guidelines for dangerous people and organizations.
Taken during the Battle of Berlin on May 2, 1945, Yevgeny Khaldei’s ‘Raising a Flag over the Reichstag’ commonly springs to mind when it comes to the subject of World War II and Victory Day celebrations. It universally appears in literature, documentaries and, indeed, in social media posts.
In a brief comment to Sputnik, Facebook has blamed an error in its algorithm for the blunder, noting that the deleted content was put back online. The social media giant apologized for “any inconvenience this may have caused” to the users.
