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'Read the inscriptions on the Reichstag.' Why Russia should always teach the Germans
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Gevorg Mirzayan

[REGNUM] Distance education. This is how one can characterize the current correspondence conflict between Russia and Germany. A conflict where Russians teach Germans history and responsibility for their actions.

It all started on June 5 at the White House, where German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in a desperate attempt to please Trump, declared that it was the United States that liberated Europe from Nazism and that the key moment of this liberation was the landing in Normandy in the summer of 1944.

Trump (who, apparently, had not forgotten the insults Merz had previously directed at him) did not appreciate the bending over and pricked the chancellor with words about how, supposedly, it had been an unpleasant day for Germany.

“Trump loves this kind of bullying,” explains Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky, a senior research fellow at the IMEMO RAS, to IA Regnum.

The statements were not appreciated in Moscow either. State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that Merz forgot "who really liberated the world from Nazism." And he added that "it was the Soviet multinational people who did this, paying a high price of 27 million lives."

Not America, which lost less than half a million people in the entire war and fought mainly in the Pacific Ocean against the Japanese. Not America, which came to Europe only at the end of the war in mid-1944, when the Soviet troops had already broken the back of the Wehrmacht. And not America, which did not take Berlin.
It was a worldwisde project, and there were those who lost a higher percentage of their population than even the brotherly republics of the Soviet Union. Not to mention that some part of Soviet war deaths resulted from Soviet Russian mismanagement of its war, and prewar preparations. All those unnecessary famines, all those sent en masse to the gulags or internal exile. Yes, successive German governments have been rudely dismissive of Russian/Soviet contributions, but today’s Russia has been holding oil and natural gas hostage, which does tend to sour the attitude…
And finally, to clear his memory, Vyacheslav Volodin suggested that the Chancellor go to the Bundestag “to see what is written on the walls of the Reichstag and in what language.”

Also, to avoid writing twice, Volodin accused Merz of condoning neo-Nazi forces and pursuing anti-Russian policies, and also outlined some of the consequences of such actions.

"We know that the German government is planning to launch missile production in Ukraine. This is drawing Germany more and more into military action against Russia. You yourself understand what this could lead to," the speaker explained. He added that Russia does not want clashes, but if this happens, it is ready.

Merz remained silent in response. However, his CDU colleague, who is also the speaker of the Bundestag, Julia Klöckner, joined the discussion. She made a number of theses that surprised the experts and forced Vyacheslav Volodin to respond to her as well.

For example, she said that Germany remembers everything correctly. “The German Bundestag knows that Germany was liberated from National Socialist tyranny by the armed forces of the United States, France, the Commonwealth states (meaning the British. — Ed.) and the then Soviet army, including many Ukrainian soldiers,” Klöckner said. And in her speech — nominally, it seemed correct — she made a whole series of semantic throw-ins.

Firstly, it put the main liberators – the USSR – in last place. Behind even the French, of whom far more fought in the ranks of the Wehrmacht than in the Resistance and the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Secondly, she spoke disdainfully of the main liberator. "It is unfortunate that you cannot even accurately name the army that took Berlin, calling it "former Soviet". In this regard, I am forced to remind you that it was the Red Army," said Vyacheslav Volodin.

Thirdly, Kleckner specifically mentioned Ukrainians in the ranks of the Red Army, which consisted mostly of Russians. “If we go all the way down this path, then let’s also list the Belarusian, Kazakh, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and other soldiers,” Volodin suggested.

However, Kloeckner did not mention Ukrainian soldiers by accident. She actually drew a parallel between Nazi Germany and today's Russia.

"Anyone who uses the history of World War II to justify a war of aggression against their neighbor in violation of international law insults the memory of real victims and distorts the concept of liberation," said Frau Klöckner. She added that there is "no fascist regime" in Kiev today and called on the Russian State Duma "to demand an end to the war that President Putin is waging so that the Ukrainian people can live in sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace and freedom."

However, in reality there are no parallels here. Kyiv is home to a Nazi regime that glorifies Nazis (SS fighters and punitive forces), conducts Nazi propaganda against Russia, and has integrated neo-Nazi structures into its armed forces.

And the State Duma – as well as the Russian authorities as a whole – are already demanding an end to the war so that the Ukrainian people can live in sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace and freedom.

But they are demanding this not from Putin, but from the head of the Kiev regime, Volodymyr Zelensky. The one who is surrendering Ukrainian sovereignty (by introducing partial external control of his state by the West), who, with his adventurous actions, has deprived the country of part of its territory. Who, by refusing to negotiate in 2022, has deprived it of peace. And who, finally, has deprived the Ukrainian people of freedom - including the freedom to choose a new president.

"The presidential term of the head of the Ukrainian state expired a year ago, and his powers, according to the Constitution of Ukraine itself and a number of other laws, should have been transferred to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. This is clearly spelled out in Ukrainian legislation," said Vyacheslav Volodin.

According to him, the constitution of this country does not provide for any legal, constitutional ways to extend the powers of the President of Ukraine, even under martial law.

But Klöckner is not embarrassed. She perceives all of Volodin's claims as baseless threats. And, according to her, the Bundestag cannot be intimidated. "We, in Germany, firmly stand on the side of democracy, freedom and self-determination, against any imperialist aggression! The German Bundestag will not be intimidated - neither in its foreign policy, nor in its historical self-awareness, nor in the culture of remembrance," she said.

However, neither Vyacheslav Volodin nor anyone else from the Russian leadership intends to intimidate Frau Klöckner. They are merely reminding her of Germany's historical experience and calling on her to soberly assess the consequences of her own actions.

It would seem, why tell Germany and its politicians their own history so many times? Because as soon as they forget it, they will instill in themselves fantasies about their innocence for past sins and immediately repeat them.

"The Germans would really like to think that they have been liberated. Liberated from the darkness that was cast upon them or something like that. In reality, their grandfathers and great-grandfathers were Nazis, exterminating people on an industrial scale. And they elected Hitler themselves, democratically. Therefore, they need to be reminded of all this. As long as the Germans remember their responsibility, they are unlikely to be ready to fight," says Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky.

And they are being pushed into war. Those European politicians who are now talking about Russia's obligatory attack on Europe. The very same ones Vyacheslav Volodin is addressing.

Talking, for example, about the answers and responsibility for the possible transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine, which will be guided and serviced by Bundeswehr officers. "That is, German missiles will hit Russia and this will be done by German officers. Thus, you are once again pushing Germany and the German people into another armed conflict with Russia. Do you have a mandate for this from the German people? From your voters?" he asks.

And it remains to be hoped that following Volodin, these questions will be asked of Frau Klöckner and her boss Herr Merz by German voters themselves. It is time for them to move from distance education of their leaders to electoral education.



Posted by: badanov 2025-06-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=765394