On July 19, 2023, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova published an article titled "Remembering All the Holocaust's Victims," in the Russian media outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta. In the article, Zakharova argued that Germany's failure to compensate non-Jewish survivors of the Siege of Leningrad in WWII, is a "breeding ground for the reincarnation of Nazism and Fascism."
"It is an abominable and inexplicable division based on ethnicity. This is a case of segregation, the very fodder for neo-Nazism. Russia has repeatedly raised this issue with Germany. Almost two years have passed since then, but this 'blood-based' rule is still in force despite our criticism of this act of racial discrimination. Back in those harrowing years, Leningrad residents did not look into each other's passports or at the shape of each other's eyes. They worked and defended themselves together, shared breadcrumbs together, and survived together. They died together, too," Zakharova said.
(Source: Armtimes.com)
Following is the article:[1]
"The Very Breeding Ground For The Reincarnation Of Nazism And Fascism"
"The stubborn refusal to see the Nazi nature of the Kiev regime runs deep and is fueled by nationalism that has taken root in the West and is based on notions of superiority and exceptionalism.
"I will give you a specific example.
"Decades after one of the worst World War II tragedies unfolded – the Siege of Leningrad – in 2021, Germany decided to pay compensation to the residents of the city.
"What value can be put on almost 900 days and nights that took one million military and civilian lives most of which were lost to hunger? What is their price tag for the feat of the entire city, and the entire nation? How do you pay for the gravest war crime in the history of not only the Great Patriotic War, but that of the entire humankind?
"It would seem that these questions pale before Berlin's purported willingness to repent.
"Not so fast, though.
"From the German point of view, not everyone is eligible for the compensation, only the people who can prove their Jewish ancestry. It is an abominable and inexplicable division based on ethnicity. This is a case of segregation, the very fodder for neo-Nazism.
"Russia has repeatedly raised this issue with Germany. Almost two years have passed since then, but this 'blood-based' rule is still in force despite our criticism of this act of racial discrimination.
Back in those harrowing years, Leningrad residents did not look into each other's passports or at the shape of each other's eyes. They worked and defended themselves together, shared breadcrumbs together, and survived together. They died together, too.
"However, almost 80 years later, official Berlin decided that some of the very few remaining siege survivors and witnesses of those horrifying events are more worthy than others, because their blood has different genetic marks. Does that not ring a bell? This is the very breeding ground for the reincarnation of Nazism and fascism."
"Germany Is Making Payments To Wehrmacht Veterans"
"As it proceeds to segregate siege survivors by ethnicity, Germany is making payments to Wehrmacht veterans and, occasionally, even the punitive SS unit members. The case of Heinz Barth, an 80-year-old former SS officer serving a life sentence in a German prison for participating in the massacre of hundreds of civilians in the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane in June 1944 comes to mind. The sentence was issued by a German Democratic Republic (East Germany) court, but after German reunification in 1990, he became eligible for a monthly payment in the amount of $450 because he lost a leg during the war. Depending on rank and merits, the pensions paid to the WWII veterans may run into hundreds or even thousands of euros. It was recently revealed that Berlin is making official payments... to former collaborators, that is, the people who cooperated with the Third Reich and the occupation authorities of their own volition. According to information obtained by AFP, in Europe, 1,532 people are receiving such pensions, including 573 in Poland, 184 in Slovenia, 101 in Austria, 94 in the Czech Republic, 71 in Croatia, 54 in France, 48 in Hungary, 34 each in Britain and the Netherlands, and 18 in Belgium.
"Once again, let that sink in: In the 21st century, Germany is paying collaborators who ratted out Jews and partisans to the Polizei, but is not willing to pay the survivors of the Siege of Leningrad."
"Why Can't Other People Have A Say In How To Keep The Memory of The Holocaust Alive?"
"A newly released interview with Michael Brodsky, Israel's ambassador to Ukraine we know all too well (we've discussed his previous remarks), in which he once again justifies the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, is a dreadful read.
"Do you know what makes it particularly scary? It's the fact that the words about 'Bandera and Shukhevich, the heroes' are uttered by someone who is not only a Jew, but is also from Leningrad. Indeed, Michael Brodsky was born and raised in Leningrad.
"And yet here he goes: 'No one has the right to teach me or other Israeli officials how to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and how to treat matters of historical memory. We vote 90 percent of the time in support of Ukraine at the UN and other international organizations. We are considering joining the Crimean Platform. I do not rule out the possibility of Israel joining the Crimean Platform at some point. Israel is actively engaged in the transfer of an early warning system to Ukraine, which I hope will become operational soon. Some elements of this system should be put in service in September.'
"Why can't other people have a say in how to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive? The Holocaust was the persecution and mass extermination by the Nazis of members of various ethnic and social groups.
"This is the way it is laid out in the fundamental international documents.
"UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/60/7: 'The Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.'
"UNESCO Resolution 34C/61: 'The General Conference, remembering that the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.'
"OSCE Berlin Declaration: 'The OSCE participating States commit to promote remembrance of and, as appropriate, education about the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the importance of respect for all ethnic and religious groups.'
"Of course, there are many UNGA resolutions that are ignored by individual states. These documents are not binding, and those who disagree with them are under no obligation to comply. But in this case, Israel and Russia were among the main initiators of the resolution. Over a 100 states co-sponsored it. Moreover, the resolution was adopted by consensus, that is, by all nations, by acclamation. Accordingly, no one questions the definition of the Holocaust that is provided in the text."
"The Term 'Holocaust' Has A Well-Established Meaning In World Historiography"
"So, we are following universally accepted provisions in connection with the blatant manifestations of the West-supported ethnic hatred, segregation and xenophobia in Ukraine.
"We, in our country, do not ascribe the Victory over Nazism or the tragedy of the people exterminated by the Nazis on the basis of race to any particular ethnicity. Just like our Victory is 'one for all,' on the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow we commemorate every person who was tortured to death by Nazis, regardless of ethnic, religious or other affiliation. After all, the monuments to the liberators of Europe from Nazism on the burial sites of the Red Army soldiers in the EU countries are protected only by Russia and individual activists from other countries, without dividing up their memory by ethnicity, geography or religion as well.
"By the way, the term 'Holocaust' has a well-established meaning in world historiography, and its meaning is not reduced to a description of Nazi atrocities exclusively against the Jewish people.
"Let's take a look at the definition provided by Britannica:
"Holocaust, Hebrew Sho'ah ('Catastrophe'), Yiddish and Hebrew Ḥurban ('Destruction'), the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II.
"Or, the Cambridge Dictionary:
"The Holocaust was the systematic murder of many people, esp. Jews, by the Nazis during World War II.
"And here's a definition from the American Merriam-Webster Dictionary: 'Usually the Holocaust: the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II.'"
"The Concept Of The General Plan Ost (1942) Provided For 'Resettling' Over 30 Million Slavs And The 'Germanisation' Of Eastern Europe To The Urals"
"Now, about the 'countless other minorities.' Nothing needs to be made up and there's nothing to read into. Everything is there in the Nuremberg Trials documents. Let's look into just one group: the Slavs.
"The concept of the General Plan Ost (1942) provided for 'resettling' over 30 million Slavs and the 'Germanisation' of Eastern Europe to the Urals. This plan was combined with the 'final solution to the Jewish question:' the Wannsee Conference held on January 20, 1942, was about exterminating 11 million European Jews.
"Here is what one of the key Nuremberg documents – a memo by an official of the Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories dated August 19, 1942 that contains Martin Bormann's instructions (Nuremberg Document R-36, US-699) – says: 'The Slavs are to work for us. Insofar as we do not need them, they may die. Therefore, compulsory vaccination and German health service are superfluous. The fertility of the Slavs is undesirable. They may use contraceptives or practice abortion, the more the better. Education is dangerous. It is enough if they can count up to 100. At best an education which produces useful coolies for us is admissible.'
"Heinrich Himmler, whose and actions modern Germany is clearly unwilling to bear responsibility for, also spoke tellingly about the Slavs: 'The Slav is never able to build anything himself. In the long run, he's not capable of it... The mixed race of the Slavs is based on a sub-race with a few drops of blood of our blood, blood of a leading race; the Slav is unable to control himself and create order. But these human shoddy goods are just as incapable of maintaining order today as they were 700 or 800 years ago, when they called in the Varangians, when they called in the Ruriks. We will also adopt a decent attitude with regards to these human animals; but it is a sin against our own blood to worry about them and give them ideals, so that our sons and grandchildren will have a harder time with them.' (This Posen speech by Himmler is also included in the Nuremberg documents).
"I want to remind you of the words of the great Soviet writer, a Leningrad resident, Daniil Granin, who, by the way, said these words from the rostrum of the German Bundestag: 'You could still read the inscriptions made by our soldiers on the walls of the Reichstag, among which one stands out: 'Germany, we came to you so that you don't come to us.' Hate is a dead-end emotion; there is no future in it. One must be able to forgive, but to remember as well. It is hard to think about the war years; any war is about blood and dirt. But the memory of the dead millions, tens of millions of our soldiers, must remain. Almost all my comrades-in-arms and friends died in the war. They died without knowing whether we would be able to defend the country, and whether Leningrad would survive, and many died with a sense of defeat. I would like to let them know that we won and that they did not die in vain. In the end, it's always justice and truth that triumph, not force.'
"When it comes to Michael Brodsky and the Germans who once again decided to divide people by ethnicity, the contemporaries, or maybe the people who will come after, will ask: how could they betray the memory of the past?"
"The Holocaust Must Be Remembered"
"Do you realize why it is important to remember the Holocaust? Not because the Nazis killed one or more specific ethnicities, but because discriminating against people on the basis of ethnicity is not an option in principle: be it psychological violence against one person or the mass murder of millions.
"By the way, the following is also included in UNGA Resolution A/RES/60/7: 'The Holocaust will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.'
"Therefore, wherever there is glorification of Nazis, killing of people on the basis of ethnicity, bans on national identity, the Holocaust must be remembered. It is necessary to remember it, because it was enshrined in international law for this particular purpose... However, increasingly more often it is not being remembered. The Holocaust is not just a date in a year. It is our common cultural code to remind us of the danger of dehumanization.
"Unfortunately, genocides have not taught humanity anything. The worst part is that today the descendants of the victims have become advocates for those who killed their ancestors. And this is just one step away from the apocalypse.
"Going back to Germany's failure to compensate non-Jewish survivors of the Siege of Leningrad, it is worth emphasizing that Berlin, in degrading the victims of the Holocaust by segregating them, is rapidly descending into a hellish new nationalist abyss."
[1] Mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1897511/, July 19, 2023.
