Way to Russia Talk Lounge

Paul Holmes · Lounge Wizard Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1011

Uncensored Memories

In a searing new book, Soviet veterans challenge the official mythology of World War II.

By Kevin O'Flynn
Published: May 6, 2005

It was in the 1980s when the first letters arrived at the Izvestia office, bubbling up from the openness that had just started under perestroika, as the country began to re-examine its past.

The letters came from soldiers who felt betrayed by their country when they were left to fight without weapons at the start of the war, from relatives who were stigmatized for decades because their sons were labeled "missing in action," from prisoners scorned and punished for having been in concentration camps.

"I Saw It" (Ya Eto Videl) is a collection of excerpts from the thousands of such letters sent to Izvestia. Two of the newspaper's veteran journalists, Anatoly Danilevich and Ella Maximova, have chosen a powerful selection for the book, which was published earlier this year to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The majority of letters relate to the events of 1941 and 1942, when the Germans destroyed a large part of the unprepared Red Army and swiftly occupied vast areas of the Soviet Union.

There is a blast of emotions throughout the book -- not just a feeling of grief for the dead, though there is much of that, but also a palpable anger at the Germans, as well as at the Soviet state for being unprepared for the attack and for seeing those who were captured as disloyal soldiers.

This anger could never have been expressed before perestroika, and it is unlikely to feature much in this year's commemorations.

The majority of the letters are from soldiers, but many of them come from the mothers, sons and daughters of veterans, while others come from nurses and doctors who served throughout the war. There are ordinary tales of heroism, tragedy and immense courage.

One reader tells of recipes used during the siege of Leningrad, when thousands starved to death in the city. The recipes use glue, leather belts and pets. Others write obliquely of the cannibalism that some residents resorted to in order to survive.

Svetlana Alexievich -- a Belarussian writer who has herself collected eyewitness accounts of the atrocities of the war -- writes in her foreword that the book is not about extraordinary heroes, but about the "proletariat of the war." Still, to a Western reader with little knowledge of the brutalities of the eastern front, many of the letters seem extraordinarily heroic.

For any generation that has not experienced war, the stories are compelling for their simple description of what would seem to be unbearable.

Soldiers' hair turns white overnight in letter after letter. Doctors remove live explosives from patients' flesh. Nurses tell horrific tales of brief moments with dying soldiers that leave an impression on them for decades. A woman who signs her letter as G. Ivashchenko recalls a mortally wounded soldier arriving at her hospital. He has serious head wounds and only one eye left intact, but the nurses help him communicate by writing out the alphabet and getting him to spell his name by blinking when they point at the right letter.

"We fought for his life for some days, understanding completely the futility of the fight," she writes.

Many of the letters are imbued with a visceral hatred for the Germans. Others show touching moments when people from opposing sides treat each other with kindness.

Along with the letters received by Izvestia came photographs: mementos of fathers and sons killed in the war, some of which are reproduced in the book. Many are only the size of a small postage stamp, since poor families couldn't afford full-size studio portraits.

Much of the book is an attempt to communicate the pain, the courage and often the bitterness of the war that changed things forever.

One woman tells of how she has spent the last 50 years trying to get her husband's name added to a war memorial after he was declared missing in action.

Or, as one woman wrote, "For us and Mama, the war did not end on May 9. It went on all her life and goes on all through mine."

Vremya

Two weeks before the start of the war, they gathered us in the building where the top brass lived to listen to a lecture called "Germany -- The Faithful Friend of the Soviet Union." Our tanks had been mothballed, our weapons were stored in the warehouse.

I got to the park at 12:30 a.m. Planes were buzzing in the sky. Everyone was happy; the maneuvers had started! The first bomb strike hit our supplies. People shouted, "They're dummy bombs made of cement." The second one hit the neighboring battalion. People shouted that somebody had been killed, another had his leg blown off. ... Only then did we realize that this was war.

Why was it forbidden to tell us the truth, that Hitler was going to attack us? Who can believe that Stalin and the General Staff did not know that 200 German divisions were moving toward the border? Could it have been possible that the local population knew but Stalin didn't?

Modest Markovich Markov
Anzhero-Sudzhensk, Kemerovo region

In the special departments [assigned to root out espionage and counterrevolution in the armed forces] they always asked people who had been inside occupied territory, "Why didn't you shoot yourselves?" I want to answer that cynical question, full of hatred for humanity.

You should blame the fact that millions of people were captured on those who beheaded the army before the war by shooting all the top leadership. ... Who failed to provide the army with tanks, planes, arms and supplies? Who missed the start of the war?

V. Ivanov
Voronezh region

Toward the end, when planes with red stars appeared above the concentration camp, how we prayed that they would drop their bombs on us so that we could die with our torturers. But the planes flew past. Guarded by the SS and German shepherd dogs, we were taken into Stettin to clear the streets and houses after an air raid. How we enjoyed seeing the destruction and the Germans' dismay.

Olga Petrovna Kostenko
Rechitsa, Gomel region

We are proud of [our father], despite the answer in the letter from the Defense Ministry personnel department: "Excluded from the list of the Armed Forces as missing in action."

Who thought up that cold formula, which is so offensive to relatives and allows other people to suspect whatever they like, even treachery?

L. Sherbatyuk
Ovruch, Zhitomir region

In the sleeper car there were 10 passengers, among them people released from hospitals. The person who touched me most was a Georgian of about 19 or 20, no older, lying on an upper bunk. He was beautiful, very beautiful. And his eyes! There was so much anger and pain in them that you could drown in his sufferings. He did not have any arms or legs. The nurse was taking him home to Tbilisi. Sometimes he would start shouting in Georgian, and then Georgians would come running from all over the car and sing him songs. He would sing with them and his eyes would suddenly become jolly and mischievous. But not for very long.

Rimma Sergeyevna Marusayeva
Dolgoprudny, Moscow region

Vremya

Civilians await the results of a crucial battle in Vyazma, a small town in the Smolensk region, in August 1941.

War is the constant possibility of death, the eternal desire to sleep, to rest from the cold, the discomfort, the feeling of torturous pity and a thousand other emotions of suffering. But in the midst of this horror we loved, laughed and kissed, and lived through dramas and tragedies, meetings and partings.

During battles we took in 500 wounded soldiers per night. [They were] freezing, heavy, wet, covered in blood. It seems as if I can still feel that cold and that blood.

Vera Vsevolodovna Vyatkina
Balashikha, Moscow region

They operated on me in Dmitriyev-Lgovsky [Kursk region]. I couldn't stand the pain and bit the nurse's hand. She didn't pull back, only looked me in the eyes, and, as if she was casting a spell, said, "Bear up a little more, not very long, soon, very soon."

Later, when she wiped my brow, I noticed that she had bruises and scars from bites on her hand -- the marks of someone else's torment.

O. Panchenko-Plankina
Rylsk, Kursk region

We returned home after nine months. Everything was burned down, destroyed, but our house was spared. I don't remember exactly, but sometime around the winter of 1944, two German prisoners came by -- they sometimes let them out of the camp to ask for handouts. Vitya started to shout at them in German, and Mother said, "What are you shouting for? Maybe our father is also wandering around like them." She went into the cellar and gave them two potatoes, even though we ourselves lived from hand to mouth. My brother continued to swear, and Mama calmed him down, saying, "Ah, son, they also live somewhere." Maybe those two got home thanks to women like our Mama.

I. Kurza
Izmail, Odessa region

On the 10th Line on Vasilyevsky Island by Syezdovsky Pereulok, where we lived, the Fascists dropped a powerful bomb but it didn't explode. They dug it up and took it away. Later we found out that they found a note in Russian inside, saying, "We help as much as we can." Who were those brave people?

N.S. Aleinikova
Kuibyshev

"I Saw It ... New Letters about the War" (Ya Eto Videl ... Noviye Pisma o Voine) is published by Vremya.

e · VIP Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 654

In rsponse to that:

I'm gonna except from this book: Conqurers Road. A brilliantly written book by an Ozzie journalist Osmar White who was in Germany/France covering the war for the Sydney Morning Herald from December 1944-December 1945.

The Amazon page for the book is here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521830516/qid=1115583710/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/002-6906075-3674439?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Paul Holmes · Lounge Wizard Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1011

Really E, you have to make everything Political and American bashing.
It is a pity.

Mogsfan · WayToRussified Joined: 03 Nov 2004 Posts: 490

Isn't e the one who DIDN'T want the topic to become political? Laughing

Anyway, IMHO, I think people are stupid. Everyone is making it out to be a celebration and remembering the soldiers. How can you celebrate war? Like some have said, how can you use the term "Great Patriot War?" I know Russians use this term because a Russian I emailed described it as such.

In Canada, they are talking about the Canadian involvement (in Holland) and on one of the GOVERNMENT-OWNED networks, discussion was going on about the New Canadian Museum. This museum cost over 50 million dollars and is being funded by the Canadian government. Fifty million dollars could feed a lot of poor people or help fund other social services.

cyndy22 · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 12:56 am Post subject:

Paul,
Your post is extraordinary. That is some book. The excerpts are powerful and I hope others read and reflect on these during this anniversary time.

vorteks · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:53 am Post subject:

Btw, May 9 is the "Europe Day", 55th anniversary of the first step of the european construction (09/05/50). Nobody makes a big fuss here about it, even tho i find this event more constructive, since it warranties peace amongst its members, than the reminder of "patriotic victory and prizes of war", calling for resentment.

cyndy22 · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 2:48 am Post subject:

I suspect that older people in Russia who were obviously affected by the war and lost family members etc. reflect on this day more as a memorial to those they loved more than anything. While do have a sense of patriotism, I think personal loss typically has more meaning in such events. That is my belief anyway.

e · VIP Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 654

Paul Holmes · Lounge Wizard Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1011

Funny E that if you read my post that there is NOT one reference about the USA. But it refers to the War and Soviet struggles with the war with Germany. But you had to make a comment about USA.

Reread it again. It is NOT a political as such as what the horrible things that this war was about. How dispite the hate and destruction, the brave people of USSR still remain quite dignified and strong. It is testament of the bravery of the soldiers who fought for USSR.

I am sorry again that you have a such a hate for the country you live in. It is pity that you live with such darkness in your soul.

Vic · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 3:40 am Post subject:

There is nothing wrong with celebrating this victory. We are not celebrating a war, but a victory. A big deal was made out of it 60 years ago because the price of this victory was so great and the morale needed to be raised. It just went on from there. There is nothing at all wrong with celebrating Victory. There is nothing at all wrong with calling it the "Velikaya Otechestvennaya Voina" ["Great Patriotic War"] (Note: "Otechestvennaya Voina" ["Patriotic War"] was the war of 1812 against Napoleon) It is because in recent history (last 200 years) these were the only times that a foreign army stepped on our soil trying to conquer us. It was no a war of an army vs. another army, but a war of a nation against an army, and it is the patriotism that helped us win the war! In both the war of 1812 and 1945!
Pozdravlyayu Vseh Veteranov S Vilikoi Pobedoi!
Vic

cyndy22 · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 3:47 am Post subject:

I agree Vic. I really do not view this as nationalistic in the sense that Russia is toting superiority over other countries. But countries who have lendured and trimuphed over such atrocities deserve a day of solidarity to reflect on their survival and ability to move forward in spite of such terrible loss. This IMHO is very humanistic.

e · VIP Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 654

Paul Holmes · Lounge Wizard Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1011

cyndy22 · Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 4:31 am Post subject:

E,
One does not need to be a resident or citizen of any particular country to defend it in some way when others express and promote anti-sentiment. One thing about forums such as WTR, is that we are fortunate to meet and learn from people all over the world. Through this virtual interactional community, I think most people do gain new insights about others as well as themselves. I think it is humanistic to simply confront others here from time to time when they post comments that have hateful attitudes about other nations, races, sexual preferences, gender, age ,economics etc.

Paul is a good man and he was just acting as a decent human being, questionning your motives. Many of us get swept away in an emotional current in these threads, Boy do I know!

E, I am sure you are not bad person but I hope you will try to practice more tolerance and less negativity to others here as well as negativity toward US and other countries. No one person or country is superior. I believe Vorteks and myself have that in common! Smile

e · VIP Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 654