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I suspect that in Russia "Nazi" implies anti-Russian rather than anti-Semitic. The Germans killed about 20 million Russians in WW2, including about 15 million c
by leereeves 5y ago
I suspect that in Russia "Nazi" implies anti-Russian rather than anti-Semitic. The Germans killed about 20 million Russians in WW2, including about 15 million civilians.
Perhaps those remarks sound bizarre to Western ears because we interpret them differently.
- mediumsmart 5y agoprobably. btw: 27 million Russians - 14 million of them civilians. German here. Nie wieder Krieg. https://www.avwsu.org/the-liberation-of-kiev/ https://www.avwsu.org/the-liberation-of-kiev/
- tgv 5y agoI think that number includes Ukrainians. And I can’t believe Putin didn’t realize that that speech, his style justification, would be seen and judged all over the world.
- HWR_14 5y agoI'm sure Putin realized his speech would be seen and judged worldwide. I don't think he cares. He probably thinks he can just do whatever he wants and the world will accommodate him.
- kergonath 5y ago> The Germans killed about 20 million Russians in WW2, including about 15 million civilians. A sizeable fraction of these “Russians” were actually Ukrainians.
- leereeves 5y agoThat's why I said "about 20 million" rather than 27 million (which is the consensus for the Soviet Union as a whole). Exact numbers aren't important in this context, they simply illustrate that Russians have their own experience with Nazis that isn't what Americans usually think about when Americans think of Nazis. The important point, about which I'd love to hear from someone more familiar with Russian language and culture, is whether the word "Nazi" is used in the same way in Russia and America (when not referring to actual Nazis).