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> I discovered that many Americans have no ideas of the tremendous role of Russia in WWII Oh we have. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation

by aragot 12y ago

> I discovered that many Americans have no ideas of the tremendous role of Russia in WWII Oh we have. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of_Germany http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of... I quote: "Female deaths in connection with rapes in Germany are estimated to 240,000". Stalin himself had to ask them to be more gentle, what an irony from such a horrible person. Besides, Russia was on the side of Hitler until Hitler betrayed it. It's not like they chose to be on the same side as US and democracy and freedom for the last year of WWII, it was the definition of "coincidence".

zwischenzug 12y ago
"Russian historians have criticized the estimates and argue that these crimes were not widespread." Anecdotal here - my mother's mother (an Austrian of Jewish descent) had to dress up as an old woman to avoid being raped in the Russian quarter of Vienna. Russians were notorious for this, so my father (an Englishman) was welcomed with relatively open arms, as the English were known to them as gentlemen less likely to brutalise women.
nraynaud 12y ago
Tanks for the demonstration. Everybody was more or less on hitler's side after Munich until a different something happened to everyone. The U.S. entered the war only after they got attacked themselves (see a pattern here?). If remembering and describing a country's past is only remembering the worst without any nuance, why would anyone remember the U.S. for any positive thing? Or maybe the torture by the CIA or the 100000 deaths in Iraq doesn't erase the helping others in WWII and we have to live in a complex world where nothing is really black or white. just try to remember salient Facts, not rewrite history. And some countries could benefit from learning to say: "we're sorry", more than to say:"we're awesome" (that's valid for the 2 bullies of the other 200 countries). On the NK situation, crossing the 38th parallel during the counter attack without having the means for a complete military victory and occupation just helped polarize everything. And now we can link the 2: invading Germany and Japan was possible because Russia agreed, invading NK was not possible because russia was against it. And this whole idea of "checking with Russia first" runs contrary to the Cold War mindset.

by aragot 12y ago

zwischenzug 12y ago

"Russian historians have criticized the estimates and argue that these crimes were not widespread." Anecdotal here - my mother's mother (an Austrian of Jewish descent) had to dress up as an old woman to avoid being raped in the Russian quarter of Vienna. Russians were notorious for this, so my father (an Englishman) was welcomed with relatively open arms, as the English were known to them as gentlemen less likely to brutalise women.

nraynaud 12y ago

Tanks for the demonstration. Everybody was more or less on hitler's side after Munich until a different something happened to everyone. The U.S. entered the war only after they got attacked themselves (see a pattern here?). If remembering and describing a country's past is only remembering the worst without any nuance, why would anyone remember the U.S. for any positive thing? Or maybe the torture by the CIA or the 100000 deaths in Iraq doesn't erase the helping others in WWII and we have to live in a complex world where nothing is really black or white. just try to remember salient Facts, not rewrite history. And some countries could benefit from learning to say: "we're sorry", more than to say:"we're awesome" (that's valid for the 2 bullies of the other 200 countries). On the NK situation, crossing the 38th parallel during the counter attack without having the means for a complete military victory and occupation just helped polarize everything. And now we can link the 2: invading Germany and Japan was possible because Russia agreed, invading NK was not possible because russia was against it. And this whole idea of "checking with Russia first" runs contrary to the Cold War mindset.