Pozor Rossii

[Maria Dmytriyeva]

Dear Anyse,

i would highly recommend to learn the difference between Russia and the Soviet Union.
because this is a sin unforgivable for any (at least, decent) Slavist. 

there are several facts, though, that make your statement rather dubious. 

first.
the Soviet Union and nazist Germany were allies. ever heard of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact?
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov-Ribbentrop_Pact)
it was thanks to support from the USSR that Germans had aviation (as a matter of fact German pilots were _trained_ in the Soviet Union)
they together divided Poland and even had a military parade together:
http://www.ua-today.com/modules/myarticles/article_storyid_8112.html

second. 
it was not that much Russia itself that took the blow. it was Ukraine and Belarus. which were first occupied by the Soviets (in 1939, Western parts) then by Germans, and then "freed"  by Soviets again. 

the WWII took one in every _four_ Belarussians and one in every _five_ Ukrainians.  (I come from the region where Germans burnt to the ground 200 villages -- with their dwellers)
the part of Russia's territory under occupation was less than 10 percent. 

third. 
but for the help of the West, the USSR would have never been able to defeat the Germans. 

fourth. 
a lot of victims of the WWII in Eastern Europe (not American understanding of Eastern Europe, European understanding of Eastern Europe) was the result of the USSR's treatment of its own citizens. partisans who were sent to the occupied territories to prevent the locals from living peacefully (to the extent possible) under the Nazis. idiotic strategic decisions that cost thousands of lives (in one of such sensless attacks my uncle was killed). sending untrained troops to the fight with no weapon. 

the list can go on and on. 

fifth. 
the present-day Russia is a country led by madmen. 
Georgia has already experienced it. Ukraine may be the next.

it has nothing to do with the Cold War perception -- but everything with the common sense. 

btw, I would not advise you to accuse me of this Cold War world view. I was born in the Soviet Union and spent a good deal of my life in it. and I hate it deeply and truly -- for everything it did wrong (and there are few things it did right). and the present-day Russia freaks me out. totally.
because I am well aware of what it had been doing to my country for centuries -- but I fear to think what else it can do to it. 

With best regards,
Maria 

> Unfortunately, I just do not UNDERSTAND at all the Cold War mentality  
> toward Russia carrying on so long and so vociferously. Nowhere is it  
> ever mentioned that, without Russia to take the large blow from  
> Germany during WWII, the world would "definitely" be nowhere like it  
> is today. The West owes a "debt" to Russia that it shall never give  
> because the West has an EGO that cannot acknowledge the gifts that  
> Russia has given to the West.
> 
> All arguments have TWO sides and, most certainly, the West has had no  
> monopoly on "truth" for such a long, long time now.
> 
> This so saddens me every time I hear this . . .
> 
> Anyse

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