Comments on: 63 years ago it was Victory in Europe day

By: mikestallard

mikestallard — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:28:26 +0000

The Poles got cheated by everyone in World War II. First of all, they were given away by Stalin/Hitler at the non aggression pact. Then they were betrayed by Churchill to the Russians. Then they were sent back to Poland to be exterminated as spies by the MGB. Not a very good war, really.
The British, it is true, first named the concentration camps in the Boer War. They did, also, allow a lot of suffering in the midst of that barbaric and unnecessary conflict. On the other hand, the British did not exterminate people in industrial numbers. Nor did they employ people as slave labour in industrial numbers. The Nazis did both these things with full approval from Himmler.
The Poles suffered a lot at the end of the Second World War, yes. But so did the Germans. Because of their appallingly arrogant and violent behaviour in the borderlands, everyone loathed the Germans by 1945. Nevertheless, they paid heavily in their own blood and honour for their barbarism. Children, of course, suffered worst and they, of course, were the least guilty.

By: Tomek

Tomek — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:26:49 +0000

1."The evil of the concentration camps and gas chambers discovered by the Allied armies was still sinking in"
What about polish resistance (Jan Karski ) passing info to UK government about what is really happening in Auschwitz? Is it so hard to admit that it was more convinient for Churchil to pretend not to believe it? Like now it is easier for some journalists to call Auschwitz – polish concentration camp -instead of german concentration camp in occupied Poland. By the way, Germans did not invent concentration camp they just developed the idea of Lord Kitchener.
2."This ushered in an era of suffering for the Germans who were living in the wrong places in Eastern Europe and had to move out."
Most of them just left in panic scared of Red Army. The order itself to flee was given by german authorities. And "transfer" of polish population from east to the areas germans deserted was done without "suffering" of course.

By: mikestallard

mikestallard — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:45:02 +0000

Thank you for your timely reminded of this awesome day.
No, it was not inevitable. It was won by a tougher generation who really put themselves on the line for us, their progeny.
If they had lost, the Far East would now be completely barbaric and very dangerous – miles and miles of Burma/Myanmar. Russia West of the Urals would now be a wasteland with huge German latifundia run by slave owning, arrogant men in uniform. Western Europe would be a terrible dictatorship run on racist lines and at permanent war with America by narrow minded bigots.
We had good reason to fear the Germans. Ever since the Frederick William (18th century) period when the King liked nothing better than smoking and reviewing his giant grenadiers, Prussia/ Germany had been utterly militaristic. Hitler, of course, presented himself as the new Frederick the Great.
It was in their history.
Today, the Germans seem to have swung far too much the other way.