Physics
Count-martyr: why a German helped the Russians during the First World War. In the service of the Germans. How Europe helped the Nazis

Count-martyr: why a German helped the Russians during the First World War. In the service of the Germans. How Europe helped the Nazis

In the late 20s and 30s, Germany did not need to strain its strength, like we did, by creating new industries, building factories and blast furnaces, and opening hundreds of institutes. It occupied industrial countries and forced them to work for itself.

Just one fact: the weapons that Germany captured from the defeated countries were enough to form 200 divisions. No, this is not a mistake: 200 divisions. In our western districts there were 170 divisions. To provide them with weapons, the USSR needed several five-year plans. In France, after its defeat, the Germans immediately seized up to 5,000 tanks and armored personnel carriers, 3,000 aircraft, 5,000 locomotives. In Belgium, they appropriated half of the rolling stock for the needs of their economy and war, etc.

But the main thing, of course, is not the confiscated weapons or trophies.

A special prize for Germany in March 1939 was Czechoslovakia, which had a combat-ready army and developed industry. Back in 1938, during the Munich Agreement, according to which Czechoslovakia undertook to transfer the Sudetenland to Germany, Hitler warned the British Prime Minister N. Chamberlain and the French head of government E. Deladier that, following the Sudetenland, the whole of Czechoslovakia would soon be occupied. But Deladier and Chamberlain did not lift a finger to protect the interests of this country. It must be admitted that the Czechoslovak leaders, having a modern army at that time, were able to provide powerful resistance to Germany, but slavishly surrendered their country to Hitler’s mercy. And Czechoslovakia represented a tasty morsel for preparing for future war. The country's weight in the world arms market of those years was 40%. This small country produced monthly 130 thousand rifles, 200 guns, about 5,000 different machine guns... At the expense of Czechoslovakia alone, the German Air Force increased by 72%, receiving 1,582 aircraft. German tank units added 486 tanks produced in Czechoslovak factories to their 720. As a result, Hitler, at the expense of Czechoslovakia alone, was able to arm and equip 50 divisions. In addition, fascist Germany also received in addition the gold reserves (80 tons) of this country, as well as the people who meekly worked for the criminal Nazi regime throughout the years of the war. The factories of the famous Skoda company made a particularly large contribution to the production of guns, trucks, and tanks. Since the beginning of the war, German soldiers fought on Czech tanks in Poland, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, and then in the USSR...

Ribbentrop, Chamberlain and Hitler during negotiations in Munich, where the fate of Czechoslovakia was decided

Only from 1933 to 1939, during the six years that Hitler was in power, the number German army increased 40 times. Despite the Versailles agreements, the leaders of Great Britain and France stubbornly ignored this... And the strengthening of Germany’s military-technical potential after the rapid victories of the Wehrmacht in 1939–1940. The economies of France, Holland, Belgium, Norway also contributed... Even neutral Sweden and Switzerland supplied the German military industry with iron ore for steel production and precision instruments... Spain supplied a significant amount of oil and petroleum products... The industry of almost all of Europe worked for the war machine of Hitler, who 30 June 1941 stated that he considered the war with the USSR as a joint European war against Russia.

After the war, W. Churchill wrote, for example, about Czechoslovakia: “It is indisputable that due to the fall of Czechoslovakia we lost forces equal to approximately 35 divisions. In addition, the Skoda factories fell into the hands of the enemy - the second most important arsenal in Central Europe, which in the period from August 1938 to September 1939 produced almost the same amount of products as all the British factories produced during the same time.

This arsenal, far from the only one in Europe, worked for Hitler’s army until the end of 1944. And how it worked! Every fifth tank delivered to the Wehrmacht troops in the first half of 1941 was manufactured at Skoda factories.

Czech enterprises, according to German ones - and one must think, accurate! - According to data, military production was constantly increasing. In 1944, for example, every month they shipped 300 thousand rifles, 3 thousand machine guns, 625 thousand artillery shells, 100 self-propelled artillery pieces to Germany. In addition, tanks, tank guns, Me-109 aircraft, aircraft engines, etc.

In Poland, 264 large, 9 thousand medium and 76 thousand small enterprises worked for Germany.

Denmark covered the needs of the German civilian population for butter by 10 percent, meat by 20 percent, and fresh fish by 90 percent. And, of course, Danish industry fulfilled all German orders.

France (41 million population), led by the collaborationist government of Laval, and French entrepreneurs willingly collaborated with the Germans and were their main supplier. By the beginning of the war with the USSR, 1.6 million people were employed in the French defense industry, which worked for the Wehrmacht. According to incomplete German data, until January 1944 they supplied Germany with about 4,000 aircraft, about 10 thousand aircraft engines, and 52 thousand trucks. The entire locomotive industry and 95 percent of the machine tool industry worked only for Germany.

Belgium and Holland supplied the Germans with coal, pig iron, iron, manganese, zinc, etc.

The most interesting thing is that all the occupied countries ruled by collaborators did not require payment in cash. They were promised to be paid after the victorious—for the Germans—end of the war. They all worked for Hitler for free.

In addition, these countries also helped Germany by taking on the costs of maintaining the German occupation forces. France, for example, since the summer of 1940 has allocated 20 million German marks daily, and since the autumn of 1942 - 25 million. These funds were enough not only to provide the German troops with everything they needed, but also to prepare and wage war against THE USSR. In total, European countries “donated” Germany more than 80 billion marks for these purposes (of which France - 35 billion).

What about the neutral countries - Sweden and Switzerland? And they worked for Germany. The Swedes supplied bearings, iron ore, steel, and rare earth elements. They actually fed the German military-industrial complex until the end of 1944. The rapid German offensive on Leningrad was connected, in particular, with the aim of “locking up” our navy and securing the supply of Swedish steel and ore. Significant supplies from Germany came through Swedish “neutral” ports. Latin America. Our military intelligence reported, for example, that from January to October 1942, more than 6 million tons of various cargo, mainly strategic raw materials, were imported into Germany through Swedish ports. Unlike the occupied countries, Sweden made good money from the war. How many? Such data have not yet been published. Swedes have something to be ashamed of. Just like the Swiss. The latter supplied precision instruments, and Swiss banks were used to pay for desperately needed purchases in Latin America.

It would be interesting to compare in detail what Germany received from the occupied, allied and neutral countries of Europe (and, as it turned out, mostly for free) with the amount of American assistance to the Soviet Union (we paid for it). It turns out that there is neither a general figure for European aid to Hitler nor for individual countries. Only fragmentary data. For the Germans, even judging by the Skoda alone, this help was extremely important. As for us, for example, the supply of American Studebakers after Battle of Stalingrad, which made the Red Army mobile and maneuverable. But, I repeat, historians do not have complete data on assistance to Germany. And, judging by the available data, it was huge. The four-volume book “World Wars of the 20th Century” provides the following figures: after the capture of Europe from Germany, the industrial potential doubled, and the agricultural potential tripled.

Europe helped Hitler not only with its arsenals. A number of Catholic bishops were quick to call the invasion of the USSR a “European crusade.” 5 million soldiers burst into our territory in the summer of 1941. 900 thousand of them are not Germans, but their allies. In addition to Germany, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, and Finland declared war on us. Spain and Denmark did not declare war, but sent their soldiers. The Bulgarians did not fight with us, but they advanced 12 divisions against the Yugoslav and Greek partisans and thereby gave the Germans the opportunity to transport part of their troops from the Balkans to the Eastern Front.

It was in the summer of 1941 that 900 thousand Europeans opposed us. In general, during the war this figure increased to 2 million people. Our captivity included Czechs (70 thousand), Poles (60 thousand), French (23 thousand) and then, in descending order, Belgians, Luxembourgers and... even neutral Swedes.

This is a special topic or a special conversation about why Europeans were so willing to help Hitler in the war against the USSR. Anti-communism undoubtedly played a significant role. But not the only one and, perhaps, not the main one. Perhaps we should return to this topic separately.

And finally, European countries helped Germany eliminate its constantly growing labor shortage due to the conscription of Germans into the army. According to incomplete data, 875.9 thousand workers were delivered from France to German factories, from Belgium and Holland - half a million each, from Norway - 300 thousand, from Denmark - 70 thousand. This made it possible for Germany to mobilize almost a quarter of its population, and they, as soldiers, were head and shoulders above their allies in all respects - Italians, Romanians or Slovaks.

All this taken together ensured Germany's significant superiority at the initial stage of the war, and then gave it the opportunity to hold out until May 1945.

What about the Resistance movement? A number of Russian authors believe that its role and significance in the occupied industrial countries Western Europe extremely bloated. To some extent this is understandable: it was important to emphasize in those years that we were not alone in the struggle. V. Kozhinov, for example, gives the following figures: in Yugoslavia, almost 300 thousand members of the Resistance died, in France, whose population was 2.5 times larger, - 20 thousand, and in the ranks German army About 50 thousand French died. Doesn't comparing these losses mean anything? Was it by chance that the Germans kept 10 divisions in Yugoslavia? Of course, the heroism of the French members of the Resistance is undeniable and its memory is sacred. But try to put on one side of the scale all the damage that they inflicted on the Nazis, and on the other - all the real help that European countries helpfully provided to Germany. Which bowl will win?

No, the question must be posed more broadly, the historians answered. Take the first two weeks of the war in France and the USSR. Already on the fifth day of the war, a real war that began on May 10, 1940, and not what the Germans called “sedentary,” the Americans and the British called “strange,” when there was simply no fighting, the new French Prime Minister Reine called Churchill and said, "We have failed." Churchill immediately flew to Paris, hoping to lift the spirits of the Allied government. But he didn't succeed. Did the French troops try to get out of the encirclement, did they have their own Brest Fortress, your Battle of Smolensk? Your heroic battles surrounded near Vyazma? Did the Parisians go out to dig anti-tank ditches? Did anyone call them to action? Did you propose a wrestling program? No, the leadership - both civilian and military - led France to become a collaborator and work for Germany throughout the war. The country has lost its honor. The majority of the French fled to the south and west; they did not want to fight, the main thing was to save their wallets. De Gaulle called to them from London, but only hundreds of people responded.

It is believed that on June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union. In fact, this is not entirely true; several countries started a war against the USSR, among them:

Romania - about 200 thousand soldiers,
Slovakia - 90 thousand soldiers,
Finland - about 450 thousand soldiers and officers,
Hungary - about 500 thousand people,
Italy - 200 thousand people,
Croatia as part of the security division

And these are only those countries that officially declared war on the Soviet Union. According to various sources, in this “ crusade“From one and a half to two and a half million volunteers who fought in Wehrmacht and Waffen SS units took part against the USSR.

These were representatives of such countries as: Holland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, France, Switzerland, Spain, Luxembourg. As during Patriotic War 1812, essentially all of Europe took up arms against Russia.

The famous American historian George G. Stein in his book “Waffen SS” describes the national composition of these units:

Dutch - 50 thousand people, Belgians - 20 thousand people, French - 20 thousand people, Danes and Norwegians - 6 thousand people each, 1200 people each from Sweden, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and other European countries.

One of the best divisions of the Reich, the Viking, consisted of European SS volunteers. The name symbolized that its ranks included representatives from the Aryan peoples of Nordic blood.

So on March 10, 1942, the Norwegian Legion was transferred to the Leningrad Front, it helped keep the city in the blockade ring until the spring of 1943. But due to heavy losses, most of the legionnaires refused to renew the contract, and were, by order of Himler, replaced by the Latvian SS Legion.

The blockade of Leningrad can generally be considered a pan-European enterprise. In addition to the Norwegians, the “Netherlands” legion and a Belgian battalion operated near Volkhov. Spanish volunteers from the Blue Division fought here, Finnish and Swedish troops besieged Leningrad from the north, and Italian sailors prepared for battle on Ladoga.

German historian Müller-Hillebrandt, who was a major general during the war General Staff The Wehrmacht recalls that many Frenchmen, whom the Germans refused to enroll in their armed forces, were greatly offended.

It all started with the fact that Heinrich Himmler had a conflict with the leadership of the Wehrmacht due to the fact that he tried to take the best for his SS units. The best in terms of physical fitness, health, and intellectual condition. He actually selected the guardsmen, and the Wehrmacht received, as his leadership believed, second class, so to speak.

After the army generals “complained” to Hitler, a limit was set for Himler to recruit Germans into guard units. But Himler quickly found a way out of the situation; he began to recruit representatives of the so-called Volksdeutsch, Germans living outside Germany, into his units. These could be Germans from Holland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, and from anywhere.

“I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as leader, to be faithful and brave. I vow to obey you and the commander you appointed until death. And may God help me." This is a fragment of the oath of the European Waffen SS volunteers upon joining the service.

Unlike the oath that the Germans took, the text did not mention Hitler as Chancellor of the Reich; this is a kind of psychological trick that this is not service in the ranks of the German occupiers, but in pan-European SS units.

Among the Alpine riflemen there were also not only Germans, there were a total of twelve mountain rifle divisions, of which two were Austrian, one was Yugoslav German, one was Bosnian Muslim, another consisted of Albanians, and another included both Austrians and Norwegians. So we can assume that every second German mountain shooter was born outside the borders of the Third Reich in 1937.

Such a large number of volunteers from European countries captured by Hitler is explained by many reasons, this is the racial theory fashionable in Europe at that time and the striking successes of the National Socialist ideology, and simply the desire to profit.

According to Himler's plans, the racially inferior peoples of the USSR were to be thrown back beyond the Urals, and their numbers were reduced several times. Aryans of Nordic blood were supposed to settle in the occupied territories of the eastern lands.

The Second World War is unique among all wars; never before in history have there been such cases of mass transfer of citizens of conquered countries to serve the occupiers. Almost the majority of the population voluntarily joined Hitler’s banners.

Not only armed formations of the European Waffen SS and foreign units of the Wehrmacht took part in the war against the USSR; the entire industry of Europe also worked for the war machine of the Third Reich. In the first years of the war, almost every second shell was cast from Swedish ore.

In the summer of 1941, every fourth tank in the German army was Czech or French. Germany won its first victories largely thanks to Scandinavian iron and Swiss optics for sights.

Few people know that the most powerful Wehrmacht tank during the attack on the USSR was the French B2. Half of the super-heavy guns that shelled Leningrad and Sevastopol were produced in France and the Czech Republic.

In 1938, in Munich, representatives of England and France treacherously gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler. If not for this conspiracy, Germany, for economic reasons, might not have been able to start a full-scale war.

The Czech defense industry was at that time one of the largest in Europe. From its factories, the Reich received more than one and a half million rifles and pistols, about 4 thousand guns and mortars, over 6,600 tanks and self-propelled guns.

The supply of raw materials was of particular importance for Germany. American oil companies, through their branches in Latin American countries, donated tens of millions of dollars worth of gasoline to Hitler. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company supplied the Third Reich with fuel, lubricants and fuel worth $20 million.

Henry Ford, a big admirer of Hitler, had branches of his enterprises in Germany, which until the very end of the war supplied the Germans with very good trucks, about 40 thousand in total. For America, war has become good business.

It is worth noting that in the occupied territory of the USSR, the Germans were able to launch only two hundred out of 32 thousand enterprises. They produced three times less production than a country like Poland.

“If we see that Germany is winning, we must help Russia. And if Russia gains the upper hand, we must help Germany. And let them kill each other as much as possible in this way. All this is for the benefit of America.” This statement was made by future US President Harry Truman to the American newspaper The New York Times on June 24, 1941.

In 2000, Nestle, in connection with its use of slave labor, paid more than $14.5 million to the relevant fund to settle the claims of victims of its actions, Holocaust survivors, and Jewish organizations. The company admitted that in 1947 it acquired a company that used forced labor during the war years, and also stated: “there is no doubt or it can be assumed that some corporations from the Nestle group operating in countries controlled by the National Socialist (Nazi) regime, exploited forced laborers.” Nestle provided monetary assistance to the Nazi Party in Switzerland in 1939, winning a lucrative contract to supply chocolate to the entire German army during World War II.

Allianz

Allianz is considered the twelfth largest financial services company in the world. It is not surprising that, having been founded in 1890 in Germany, it was the largest insurer there when the Nazis came to power. As such, she quickly found herself involved in dealings with the Nazi regime. Its director, Kurt Schmitt, was also Hitler's Minister of Economics, and the company provided insurance for Auschwitz facilities and personnel. Its CEO is responsible for the practice of paying insurance compensation for Jewish property destroyed by Kristallnacht to the Nazi state instead of the rightful beneficiaries. In addition, the company worked closely with the Nazi state in tracking the life insurance policies of German Jews sent to death camps, and during the war insured for the Nazis property taken from the same Jewish population.

Novartis

While Bayer is infamous for its beginnings as a division of the manufacturer of Zyklon B gas, used in Nazi gas chambers, it is not the only pharmaceutical company with skeletons in its closet. The Swiss chemical companies Ciba and Sandoz, as a result of a merger, formed Novartis, which became famous primarily for its drug Ritalin (a notorious psychostimulant widely used in the United States to treat childhood hyperactivity; approx. mixednews). In 1933, the Berlin branch of Ciba terminated all Jewish members of its board of directors and replaced them with more "acceptable" Aryan cadres; Meanwhile, Sandoz was engaged in similar activities regarding its chairman. During the war, companies produced dyes, medicines and chemical substances. Novartis openly admitted its guilt and tried to make amends for it in a way typical of other accomplice companies - by donating $15 million to the Swiss compensation fund for victims of Nazism.

BMW admitted to using 30,000 forced unskilled workers during the war. These prisoners of war, forced laborers and prisoners concentration camps produced engines for the Luftwaffe and were thus forced to help the regime defend itself from those who were trying to save them. IN war time BMW concentrated exclusively on the production of airplanes and motorcycles, with no claim to anything other than being a supplier of military vehicles to the Nazis.

Reemtsma

Reemtsma was founded in 1910 in Erfurt, Germany. In 1918, production was automated. In 1923 production was moved to Altona, now part of the city of Hamburg.

During Hitler's time, despite the official anti-tobacco policy of the NSDAP, the company flourished. In 1937, the company owned 60% of the country's cigarette market. In 1939, Philipp F. Reemtsma was appointed head of the Fachuntergruppe Zigarettenindustrie (the cigarette production department of the Wehrwirtschaftsführer - an association of companies that worked for the front).

In 1948, the company's activities were resumed, and in 1980 the Tchibo coffee company became the owner of the majority of shares, which sold its share in 2002 to Imperial Tobacco. It is noteworthy that now the Reemtsma company has representative offices in Kyiv and Volgograd, near where the Battle of Stalingrad took place.

The history of the Nivea brand dates back to 1890, when a businessman named Oskar Troplowitz bought the Beiersdorf company from its founder.

In the 1930s, the brand positioned itself as a product for active life and sports. The main products were protective creams and shaving products. During World War II, Ellie Hayes Knapp, who became First Lady under Theodore Hayes, was in charge of the advertising side of the brand. According to her, in her advertising campaigns she tried to avoid the militaristic component, focusing on depicting an active life in peaceful circumstances. However, the sporty, smiling girls from Nivea posters could inspire the Wehrmacht fighters no less, or even better, than Hitler’s mustachioed face from NSDAP posters.

It is noteworthy that during the war, several countries at war with Germany appropriated the rights to the trademark. The process of purchasing the rights by Beiersdorf was completed only in 1997.

The Maggi company was founded in 1872 in Switzerland by Julius Maggi. The entrepreneur was the first to appear on the market with ready-made soups. In 1897, Julius Maggi founded Maggi GmbH in the German city of Singen, where it is still based today. The Nazis' rise to power had almost no effect on business. In the 1930s, the company became a supplier of semi-finished products to German troops.

Considering that no one from the organization’s management was seen to be particularly active political life, the brand has preserved itself and continues to delight. This time also for residents of the ex-USSR.

But what about our neutrals?

“...In the very first days of the war, a German division was sent through the territory of Sweden to operate in Northern Finland. However, the Prime Minister of Sweden, Social Democrat P. A. Hansson, immediately promised the Swedish people that not a single German division would be allowed through Swedish territory and that the country would in no way enter into a war against the USSR. Sweden took upon itself to represent the interests of the USSR in Germany, and yet the transit of German military materials to Finland began through Sweden; German transport ships transported troops there, taking refuge in Swedish territorial waters, and until the winter of 1942/43 they were accompanied by a convoy of Swedish naval forces. The Nazis achieved the supply of Swedish goods on credit and their transportation mainly on Swedish ships ... "

“...It was Swedish iron ore that was the best raw material for Hitler. After all, this ore contained 60 percent pure iron, while the ore received by the German military machine from other places contained only 30 percent iron. It is clear that the production of military equipment from metal smelted from Swedish ore was much cheaper for the treasury of the Third Reich.

In 1939, the same year when Hitler's Germany unleashed the Second world war, it was supplied with 10.6 million tons of Swedish ore. Wow! After April 9, that is, when Germany had already conquered Denmark and Norway, ore supplies increased significantly. In 1941, 45 thousand tons of Swedish ore were supplied daily by sea for the needs of the German military industry. Little by little, Sweden traded with Nazi Germany grew and eventually accounted for 90 percent of all Swedish foreign trade. From 1940 to 1944, the Swedes sold more than 45 million tons of iron ore to the Nazis.

The Swedish port of Luleå was specially converted to supply iron ore to Germany through the Baltic waters. (And only Soviet submarines after June 22, 1941, at times caused great inconvenience to the Swedes, torpedoing Swedish transports in whose holds this ore was transported). Supplies of ore to Germany continued almost until the moment when the Third Reich had already begun, figuratively speaking, to give up the ghost. Suffice it to say that back in 1944, when the outcome of the Second World War was no longer in doubt, the Germans received 7.5 million tons of iron ore from Sweden. Until August 1944, Sweden received Nazi gold through Swiss banks.

In other words, wrote Norschensflamman, “Swedish iron ore ensured the Germans’ success in the war. And this was a bitter fact for all Swedish anti-fascists.”

However, Swedish iron ore came to the Germans not only in the form of raw materials.

The world-famous SKF concern, which produced the best ball bearings on the planet, supplied these, not so, at first glance, tricky technical mechanisms to Germany. Fully ten percent of the ball bearings received by Germany came from Sweden, according to Norschensflamman. Anyone, even someone completely inexperienced in military affairs, understands what ball bearings mean for the production of military equipment. But without them, not a single tank will move, not a single submarine will go to sea! Note that Sweden, as Norschensflamman noted, produced bearings of “special quality and technical characteristics", which Germany could not obtain from anywhere else. Importing bearings from Sweden became especially important for Germany when the VKF bearing plant in Schweinfurt was destroyed in 1943. In 1945, economist and economic advisor Per Jakobsson provided information that helped disrupt the supply of Swedish bearings to Japan.

Let's think: how many lives were cut short because formally neutral Sweden provided Nazi Germany with strategic and military products, without which the flywheel of the Nazi military mechanism would, of course, continue to spin up, but certainly not at such a high speed as it was?

In the autumn of 1941, that same cruel autumn, when the existence of the entire Soviet state was at stake (and therefore, as a consequence, the fate of the peoples inhabiting it), King Gustav V Adolf of Sweden sent a letter to Hitler in which he wished “dear Reich Chancellor further success in the fight against Bolshevism..."

Sweden received even more military orders after the outbreak of World War II. And mostly these were orders for Nazi Germany. Neutral Sweden has become one of the main economic pillars National Reich. Suffice it to say that in 1943 alone, of the 10.8 million tons of iron ore mined, 10.3 million tons of iron ore were sent to Germany from Sweden. Until now, few people know that one of the main tasks of Navy ships Soviet Union, who fought in the Baltic, was not only the fight against fascist ships, but also the destruction of ships of neutral Sweden transporting cargo for the Nazis.

Well, how did the Nazis and the Swedes pay for the goods they received from them? Only by what they looted in the territories they occupied and most of all in the Soviet occupied territories. The Germans had almost no other resources for settlements with Sweden. So, when they once again tell you about “Swedish happiness,” remember who paid for it for the Swedes and at whose expense.

The war in Europe was more political influence and for control of territories, the war on the eastern front was a war of destruction and survival, these are absolutely two different wars, they just happened at the same time.

Civilized Europe always diligently erases from the history of the Second World War these shameful facts of its collaboration with the bloodiest and most inhumane regime of the twentieth century, and this is the truth about the war that needs to be known and remembered.

English publicist of the 19th century T. J. Dunning:

Capital... avoids noise and abuse and is distinguished by a fearful nature. This is true, but it is not the whole truth. Capital fears no profit or too little profit, just as nature fears emptiness. But once there is sufficient profit available, capital becomes bold. Provide 10 percent, and capital agrees to any use, at 20 percent it becomes animated, at 50 percent it is positively ready to break its head, at 100 percent it violates all human laws, at 300 percent there is no crime that it would not risk, at least on pain of the gallows. If noise and abuse bring profit, capital will contribute to both. Evidence: Smuggling and Slave Trade

sources

http://www.warmech.ru/war_mech/tyl-evr.html

http://www.theunknownwar.ru/korporaczii_kotoryie_obyazanyi_naczistam_svoim_uspexom.html

And I’ll also remind you, The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

Alexander Medem is a high school student. Voronezh, 1890s. Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

Generous Medems

Count Alexander's father, Otton Ludwigovich Medem, was the governor of Novgorod. When a riot broke out in the city in 1905, he resolutely walked into the middle of the rioting meeting, took off his cap, bowed to the people and spoke in a low voice to the rioters. And people soon dispersed, reassured.

In Novgorod, a kind governor stood up for a widow who had become a victim of deception by a dishonest merchant: he extracted bills from the poor woman for a large sum. The governor himself went to the deceiver and asked to see the bills. As soon as the securities were in the hands of the governor, he threw them into the fireplace with the words:

“I had no right to do this, and you can sue me.”

The merchant did not sue, and the widow's property was saved.

Otton Ludvigovich with Alexandra Dmitrievna. 1890s, Alexander's parents. Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

The best character traits of his father were inherited by his son, Count Alexander (1877-1931). He was raised in the Lutheran faith, like his father. His kindness was amazing, and his generosity knew no bounds. Instead of living in a densely populated western city, the count chose to stay on the family estate of Alexandria (now the village of Severny in the north of the Saratov region). Introduced the latest agricultural technologies.

More than once he had to help out local residents. For the Medem family it was completely natural to give a horse to a poor peasant, a cow large family, give the peasant a lift in his carriage, and get out of it himself, so that it would be easier for the horse to drive up the mountain...

According to contemporaries, he knew every hired peasant and selected only the best workers, personally toured the estates and monitored the progress of work. His daughter Alexandra wrote that her father easily communicated with people and endeared himself to everyone. He knew how to behave appropriately in any society, but did not like to be in those aristocratic circles where there were many conventions. And when, during the revolutionary riots, the landowners' estates began to be plundered, in the Saratov province the people shouted: “Death to the landowners! Except Medem!

Daughter's illness

Alexander Medem with his daughter Elena. 1910s Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

Count Alexander Medem had a lot of pain in his life, so he shared the suffering of other people and tried to help with all his might.

His beloved wife Maria fell ill with cholera during pregnancy.

The medications that the doctors gave her were harmful: her daughter Elena was born sick: she could not speak, did not control her body, could not even chew.

But despite the severity of the illness, consciousness was preserved, and the girl’s face was unusually pretty. Elena reacted to the way she was treated: she cried when the tone was strict, and she laughed when the tone was gentle. She rejoiced at the sight of her mother, whom she resembled more than other children: huge blue eyes, black eyebrows and hair, delicate skin... The girl often had seizures of convulsions of the whole body, during which she screamed loudly in pain.

The loving hearts of the parents were torn. The Count was very worried about the child; this grief was the last decisive moment in his acceptance of Orthodoxy. On his estate, he built a temple in honor of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen, the patron saint of his sick daughter. In total, Alexander Medem had four children. He himself grew up in a friendly large family.

Civil War

Alexander Ottonovich Medem in the First World War. . Photo from pravoslavie.ru

When did it start Civil War, Alexander Ottonovich agreed with his two brothers that, being “Russians,” they would not raise a hand against their own and would not take part in the civil war.

Count Alexander Ottonovich celebrated Christmas 1915 on the front line Western Front together with the soldiers: he accompanied wagons of gifts for military personnel there. A few months later, Medem returned to the combat zone as the head of the medical and nutritional detachment. Often he and other volunteers had to take out wounded soldiers under fire and provide first aid.

The Count came face to face with death more than once. He had to see the action of German technologies of mass destruction used by soldiers of the enemy army. He saw Russian soldiers die from chemical burns inflicted by the weapons of the inventive German mind. His heart was infinitely kind, but fragile: during the war with the count he had a heart attack. Then he returned to his estate Alexandria.

Imprisonment

Temple in honor of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helena in the Medem estate of Alexandria. 1916-17 Photo from the site pravoslavie.ru

In 1918, the Bolsheviks arrested Count Alexander and sentenced him to death, but before the execution of the sentence he was allowed to go home and say goodbye to his family. The count was ready to return to prison the next morning, but the next day the Bolsheviks were driven out of the city by the Whites, and the sentence was canceled by itself.

In the summer of 1919, Alexander Medem was again imprisoned. Returning from prison, he said that he had never prayed so well anywhere as in prison, where death knocks on the door at night, and whose turn is unknown. His letter to his son has been preserved, very touching, full of care, faith, and love.

Here are his last lines: “Believe firmly, without hesitation, always pray fervently and with faith that the Lord will hear you, fear nothing in the world except the Lord God and your conscience guided by Him - do not take anything into account; never offend anyone (of course, I’m talking about a blood, life-related offense that remains forever) - and I think that good will happen. Christ is with you, my boy, my beloved. Mom and I constantly think about you, thank God for you and pray for you... I hug you tightly, baptize you and love you. The Lord is with you. Your father".

They say that war hardens, corrupts, etc. But something completely different happened to Count Alexander.

His wife, who knew him like no one else, wrote about her husband: “Over these years, he has grown unusually morally. I have never seen such faith, such peace and tranquility of soul, such true freedom and strength of spirit in my life. This is not only my opinion, which may be biased - everyone sees this, and this is what we live for - nothing else, for the very fact that we exist as such a family, having nothing but hope in the Lord God, proves this...”

“Tell me one more word goodbye”

Alexander Medem. Photo from criminal case No. 7. 1929 Photo from pravoslavie.ru

In December 1925, the count buried his wife, who died of tuberculosis. Before this, he prayed long and fervently for her recovery, believing in the possibility of healing. Only when her phlegm stopped coming out did Alexander begin to prepare for his wife’s death. She was given communion before her death, and the pain subsided. The husband held his dying wife's hand. She began to call and bless the children, and pray for those relatives who were not around at that moment.

The count recalled: “My heart was breaking, and I told her that the Lord would call me as soon as possible - “I cannot live without you.”

She pressed my head tightly and said: “Don’t cry, my dear, I know you will be with me soon.” Her eyes were always fixed on the icon of the Mother of God, which hung on the wall of the hallway, and she prayed until the last minute.”

But Alexander really wanted to hear his beloved voice, so he asked: “Manyushenka, tell me at least one more word.” Maria, tightly squeezing her husband’s hand for the last time, said: “My dear, I feel so good, so good - I just feel sorry for you.” These were hers last words. But even in that terrible hour, he did not lose trust in God: “Obviously, this is necessary, and, obviously, this is better. His will be done."

Soon after her mother, her daughter Elena died.

Alexander Ottonovich himself died on April 1, 1931 in the Syzran prison hospital from pulmonary edema. In prison, the Count showed rare fortitude and calm. He was canonized in 2000. Now books have been written about the holy martyr, films have been made, a gymnasium has been named in his honor, a museum has been opened and a temple has been restored on the site of his former estate.

Bronislav Kaminsky: “the bastard is worse than General Vlasov”

Almost everyone knows about the Soviet general Andrei Vlasov and his Russian Liberation Army, who went over to the side of the fascists. However, Vlasov is not the only major figure in the chronicle of betrayal of the Motherland. An even more cruel and cold-blooded traitor was Bronislav Kaminsky - SS Brigadefuhrer, leader of the Russian People's Liberation Army, also known as the 29th Grenadier (First Russian) SS Division.

Nothing foretold

Bronislav Kaminsky was born in Vitebsk. At the time of the Great October Revolution, he was a student at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Having dropped out of school, Kaminsky became interested in revolutionary ideas - he not only volunteered for the Red Army (Workers' and Peasants' Red Army), but also became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). Returning to peaceful life, Kaminsky became a chemical technologist, worked at a factory, and participated in socialist competition. However, this did not stop him from free time distill moonshine. Kaminsky's father was a Pole, so Bronislaw ardently defended the idea of incorporating Poland into the USSR as a special autonomy.

Kaminsky did not escape the wave of repressions. In 1935 he was expelled from the party, and in 1937 he ended up in a camp, where he served as a technologist in the production of alcohol. In an effort to ease his fate, Bronislav Kaminsky becomes an informant for the NKVD. This allows him to be released at the beginning of 1941. Before the start of the war and the arrival of the Germans, Kaminsky worked in the village of Lokot (present-day Bryansk region, then the center of the Brasovsky district in Oryol region) at the distillery.

The war provided an opportunity to unfold

On October 4, 1941, the 17th Panzer Division under the command of Lieutenant General von Arnim entered the village of Lokot. The Germans were joyfully greeted by those who sought to achieve the “final and complete defeat of Judeo-Bolshevism.” The leaders among the collaborators were technical school teacher Konstantin Voskoboynik and distillery engineer Bronislav Kaminsky. The first was appointed head of the village.

With the full approval of the German authorities, Kaminsky and Voskoboinik formed police and administrative bodies with the aim of maintaining the Nazis' "new order". The notorious Lokot self-government was created. The collaborators began an active armed pursuit of the partisans who had gone into the forests to fight the fascists.

Kaminsky gains power

At the beginning of 1942, on Christmas night, Voskoboinik was killed by partisans from Saburov’s detachment. Kaminsky immediately tells the Nazis about his “Aryan origin,” remembering his mother, a Russified German. The German command gives the go-ahead for the transfer of Lokot autonomy into his hands.

Kaminsky sincerely believed Hitler’s propaganda, which presented Germany as a “state of national labor.” The manifesto of the People's Socialist Party of Russia, created with his participation, echoes the propaganda brochures and leaflets of the Nazis in its hatred of the Bolsheviks and anti-Semitism.

Kaminsky believed: after the end of the war “ Great Russia"must be organized in the spirit of fascist ideology. Nazi reformer - such an apt nickname was given to him by the US Slavic historian Alexander Dallin.

There is no place for Jews

Lokot autonomy followed the example of the Hitlerite state in everything. Special instructions prohibited marriages of Jews with representatives of other nations. The newspaper "Voice of the People" published anti-Semitic articles. Adopted in autonomy Labor Code included an article with the characteristic title “Jewish labor force.”

In 1943, Kaminsky, together with the Russian Liberation People's Army (RONA), which he created, was redeployed to the city of Lepel. The newspaper “New Way” (Vitebsk) described Kaminsky’s policy as follows: “When appointing an employee to a position, only his business qualities are taken into account. As for the party, social, national (there is no place for Jews) position, this does not matter.”

Words did not diverge from deeds. Jewish ghettos were created in some villages and towns of the Lokot Autonomy. The authorities, represented by Kaminsky, decreed that everyone who shelters communists and Jews should be shot.

In September 1942, the police of the Lokot self-government shot all the Jews living in the village of Navlya as revenge for the explosion of a bridge across the river by partisans. Executions continued in the Suzemsky and Sevsky regions. In one area alone, 223 people were brutally murdered simply because they were Jews.

Close friendship with the Nazis

Hitler's command did not leave Kaminsky's “independent autonomy” unattended. Elbow served as the base of the Nazi communications headquarters and the deployment point of the SD Sonderkommando. Along the Abwehr line, Kaminsky was supervised by A. Dollert. He survived Hitler's defeat and wrote, under the name Sven Steenberg, a large work about the collaborators of the USSR.

Dollert regularly reported to his superiors about the state of affairs in the autonomy he supervised. One of the reports contains the mention: “With the population, enemies and led military units, Kaminsky behaves like a typical Russian - infinitely generous and infinitely cruel.”

Massacres of the population

Kaminsky and his military formations carried out brutal terror against those who were waiting for the return of Soviet power. His agents, posing as partisans, walked around the villages. Having found out who was breathing what, the provocateurs called a convoy and herded those arrested into the former building of stud farm No. 17, which was turned into the Lokot prison.

It was here, in the service of Kaminsky, that the notorious Tonka the Machine Gunner, the executioner Antonina Makarova, committed her atrocities. In 1945, not far from the prison, at the bottom of a pit, 22 pits full of corpses were discovered. In total, more than 2,000 people were shot there.

Executions were also carried out in anti-tank ditches (the village of Kholmetsky Khutor) - 95 bodies were found, in Voronov Log (the village of Gorodishche) - 800 bodies, near the Pogrebsky dachas in the copse - 2,500 bodies. Among the dead were underground fighters, partisans, communists, their relatives and many Jews. Cases of reprisals against all residents of some villages and burning of houses have been recorded.

Fighting partisans

Bronislaw Kaminski's good organizational skills and charisma allowed him to inspire many people to commit atrocities. Soldiers and former civilians who had gone over to the fascist side furiously rushed into battle with the “people's avengers.” The first anti-fascist brigade (commander Gil-Rodionov) lost 1026 people in battles with the Kaminites.

In just one month of 1944, from April 11 to May 15, according to information from the chief of staff of the 3rd Panzer Army, Heidkämper, the partisans lost 14,288 people as part of the RONA operation “Joy Holiday”. The Polotsk-Lepel partisan zone actually ceased to exist. Thanks to this, the Nazis were able to secure the rear areas of Army Group Center for some time.

For the successful conduct of the operation, RONA was separately noted by the fascist command. Kaminsky himself received the Iron Cross, 1st class.

SS Brigadeführer

British historian Colin Heaton wrote: “Kaminsky’s brigade committed many atrocities, fighting well on the side of the Germans.” Kaminsky was invited to join the SS troops with the rank of Brigadefuehrer.

On August 1, 1944, RONA was reorganized into the 29th SS Grenadier Division. Kaminsky himself received the rank of Waffen-Brigadeführer and Major General of the SS troops.

Warsaw Uprising and inglorious death

While participating in the suppression Warsaw Uprising(August 1944) Kaminsky’s troops, without looking, shot everyone who came to their hand. The soldiers robbed shops, warehouses, apartments, and raped women. The massacres lasted for several weeks. Not only Polish women were raped, but also two German girls - members of a pro-Nazi organization. According to historians, up to 30 thousand people became victims of the executions.

Even seasoned fascists shuddered at the degree of atrocity and looting shown by the troops of the Russian division. On August 28, 1944, after a short court-martial, Bronislaw Kaminski, along with the lower-ranking leaders of the 29th Division, was shot by the SS Sonderkommando “according to martial law for encouraging requisitions and robberies.”

Khivi: how many Soviet citizens helped the German occupiers

From the first weeks of the invasion of German troops into the USSR, not only the heroism of the Soviet people was evident, but also the conciliatory, and sometimes downright hostile, position of some citizens of the country.

Militia fighters, soldiers of the Red Army (Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) and civilians of the occupied territories went over to the side of the enemy.

Who are the Hiwis?

The name of the collaborators comes from the German word hilfswilliger, that is, “willing to help.” The fascist command used this term to refer to all residents of the occupied countries who served in the German troops or worked for the benefit of Germany. These included prisoners of war, voluntary defectors, local residents of occupied areas, including those forcibly deported. Initially, the Nazis called such people “our Ivans,” but quite quickly the term “Khivi” became official.

What did the Khivi do with the Germans?

The Nazis used citizens of occupied countries in the army as drivers, cooks, grooms, security guards at rear facilities, loaders, sappers, storekeepers, and orderlies. Those who confirmed their loyalty and showed it in practice were allowed to take punitive measures, forays against partisans, and also participate in military operations regular army. They could also become police officers in occupied areas.
Khivi were actively used as propagandists - on the front line, with the help of megaphones, they called on the Red Army soldiers to throw down their weapons and go over to the Germans - “civilized progressive people.” Red Army volunteers also served in combat units of the Wehrmacht, receiving the status of hilfswilliger. Their presence worked to increase the influx of defectors.
In 1943, the headquarters of the Nazi 6th Army developed the “Main Directions for the Training of Voluntary Helpers.” The document stated that the purpose of training and education was to prepare hilfswilliger as “reliable comrades in the fight against Bolshevism.”
The Khivi did not include prisoners of war who were used for forced labor in concentration camps, and almost 5 million Ostarbeiters - residents of the occupied territories, deported to Germany for forced labor. Among them there were many women and teenagers.

Caught in German captivity The Red Army soldiers made a choice between death and betrayal of their homeland in favor of survival. They were afraid to escape back to the Red Army troops or partisans - those who were captured and survived were usually considered traitors. Shooting one’s own seemed unforgivable to many, but why not join the auxiliary services? There were not so many ideological opponents of Soviet power among the prisoners of war.
Civilians in the occupied territories went over to the Nazis for various reasons. Some residents of the republics annexed to the USSR in 1940 have not forgotten how Soviet power was imposed “with fire and sword.” They sincerely believed that the Germans were better and more civilized.
Many coveted benefits from the occupiers, guaranteed rations, and monetary rewards. When a dilemma arose - a half-starved life for oneself and children or paid work and loyalty to the authorities - not everyone could resist.
In addition, at all times there have been selfish and unprincipled people who were ready for betrayal and cruelty for the sake of power and money. They were also in demand by the Germans and took their places in the ranks of the Hiwis.

The scale of the phenomenon

The experiment using hiwi brought results that exceeded the wildest expectations of the Germans. By the spring of 1942, the rear units of the German army included at least 200 thousand volunteer assistants, and by the beginning of 1943 their number reached a million.
The lack of an unambiguous interpretation (who is considered a Khiwi and who is forcibly mobilized) and the loss of German archives do not allow us to give an exact figure. According to the archives of the NKVD, in the period until March 1946, proceedings were initiated against 283 thousand Vlasovites, representatives of Cossack units and eastern legions, and these are only those who survived and were discovered.
Researcher S.I. Drobyazko believes that the SS, Wehrmacht, police and paramilitary units on Hitler’s side (ROA, RONA, Cossacks, Eastern and Baltic divisions) consisted of over a million people during the entire period of the war.
According to estimates of the German Office of Eastern Forces, as of February 2, 1943, the total number of Soviet citizens in German military service reached 750 thousand, including Khiwi - from 400 to 600 thousand. These statistics do not include the Navy, Luftwaffe and SS. As of February 1945, the number of Khivi was determined to be 600 thousand people in the Wehrmacht, 15 thousand in the navy and 60 thousand in the Luftwaffe.

Few received monuments

An unusual fact: in August 2011, in the French city of Brébier in the Pas-de-Calais department (Lens agglomeration), a monument to three Soviet Khivi was erected. Four volunteer assistants were assigned to the German air defense battery. On September 1, 1944, the day before the Allies entered Lens, the Germans decided that they no longer needed the Khivi. Grigory Malinin and Alexey Teslenko were shot on the spot, Alexander Milaikov was killed while trying to escape. Ilya Lavrentyev managed to escape - later the allies handed him over to the USSR.
The inscription on the memorial plate reads: “In memory of three Russian soldiers, prisoners of war of the German air defense unit Dienststelle Feldpost 49300. Shot by the Germans during the retreat on September 1, 1944, on the day of the liberation of Brebier, and buried in this cemetery. For us - memory, for them - immortality."

High ranks and inglorious end

Among the Khiwis there were quite a few successful Red Army officers. This is not only Lieutenant General Andrei Vlasov, head of the ROA, but also the chief of staff of the Red Army division, Lieutenant Colonel Gil-Rodionov, who again went over to the side in 1943 Soviet power, Hero of the Soviet Union, air squadron commander Bronislav Antilevsky, commander of the 41st rifle division Colonel Vladimir Baersky.
All of them went over to the Nazi side after being captured. Their fate ended with a natural ending: Baersky was hanged in May 1945 by Czech partisans under the command of the Soviet captain Smirnov, Vlasov was hanged after trial in 1946, Antilevsky was shot in the same year, posthumously deprived of the title of Hero and orders in 1950.
The Khiwis who lived to see the end of the war and returned to the USSR were condemned as traitors and traitors to their homeland. Those who took part in the hostilities were sentenced to death or hanging; the rest went through camps and exile. 148 thousand people were sentenced to 6 years in special settlements.

History is written by the victors, which is what the Soviet Union did in relation to Germany: for example, it attributed its own crimes to it (such as the Katyn massacre). But more importantly, the Soviet Union bears great responsibility for the Holocaust.

Mass killings are not at all typical of the Germans with their law and order mentality. The Germans learned this from the Russians. Two years before the Nazis began loading Jews into cattle cars, Russian intelligence services have already done this with the Poles. Since the winter of 1940, about 400 thousand people were displaced from the territory of Poland occupied by Soviet troops. The USSR increased the intensity of mass violence gradually, meticulously testing various schemes. Everything was tried: labor camps in which people died from cold and hunger, mass executions of enemies of the people (which could have been anyone), ethnic cleansing of territories. Taken together, these three components paved the way for genocide.

In many cases, forced relocation was difficult, but it could not be called genocide. Only the Russians drove the Poles into carriages in forty-degree frost, already causing the death of many of them. Only Poles were shot en masse, about 110 thousand in total, and their only fault was their nationality.

What did Stalin not like about the Poles? The answer becomes clear when you look at the statistics. Five months after the Soviet occupation of Poland, 93 thousand people were arrested, of which 23 thousand were Jews, 41 thousand Poles and 21 thousand Ukrainians. The Poles personally insulted the Bolshevik leadership when they were defeated in 1919–21 Russian aggressors. Western Ukrainians consistently resisted the rise of Russian power. But why were proportionately more Jews arrested than other nationalities?

After visiting Moscow, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop issued a communique, which Soviet newspapers published on September 20, 1939. It said, in particular: “The Soviet-German friendship is founded forever... Both countries wish for the continuation of peace and an end to the fruitless struggle of England and France with Germany. If, however, warmongers prevail in these countries, Germany and the USSR will know how to react.” In German jargon, the “warmongers” were the Jews.

It is noteworthy that the Nazi leaders, as far as is known from their diaries and minutes of meetings, were convinced that the Jews were pushing Great Britain and the United States into war with Germany. The Jewish establishment only reinforced this suspicion by calling for a boycott of Germany: they wanted Germany to integrate its Jews, while the Zionists tried to take advantage of the situation and encourage Jewish emigration to Israel.

Obviously, Stalin shared the same belief system, namely that international Jewish guarantees opposed the spread of communism. Strange, but the Russian tyrant looked back at world public opinion: that is why he divided Poland with Germany, and did not conquer it all. Only two weeks after the Germans ended the Polish state, the Soviet Union invaded its half. In this light, the world Jewish lobby presented a problem for Stalin. In addition, the Jews interfered with Stalin on another issue: he believed in the proximity of the world crisis and the world communist revolution, and therefore the real enemies were the Jews - capitalists and, in general, far from proletarians. During the Great Depression, the coming of communist paradise seemed especially close, and its enemies did not deserve human treatment.

Stalin's pre-war attitude towards Jews is evident from how actively he cleared Soviet ministries and highest government institutions of them. This is especially true for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the spring of 1939. He handed over to the Nazis German communist refugees living in the USSR - mostly Jews. For their part, the Nazis treated both Jews and communists with the same brush. This is despite the fact that most German Jews were inclined towards capitalist entrepreneurship.

The spiral began to twist on its own, and now the Germans decided that the source of the Russian threat to them was the Jewish Bolsheviks. But there really was such a threat: the Soviet army was head and shoulders superior to the German one. The USSR had several times more infantry, tanks, aircraft, and artillery, not to mention the noticeable qualitative superiority of Russian weapons. If in 1939 the Nazi leadership expected to win in an alliance with the USSR, then already in 1941 it considered the Soviet Union a mortal enemy.

The Nazi army was very weak. The Treaty of Versailles imposed demilitarization on Germany, and an entire generation of soldiers lacked military training. Shackled by sanctions, German industry produced mostly second-rate weapons. Even small military campaign in Poland it took four weeks. Germany lost the air war to Great Britain, despite being outnumbered many times over. Over time, the African campaign was also lost. France was defeated more strategically than by brute force. military force. The Germans were well aware of their weakness and did not even try to capture France: formally, this country remained independent and even signed an armistice agreement with Germany.

But even such dubious achievements would have been impossible without massive support for the Nazis by the Soviet Union. Since the 1920s, the USSR helped Germany in every possible way, from the deployment of German military factories and schools in circumvention of the Versailles Treaty to the supply of oil, grain and metal. Soviet-German military training and rearmament programs developed. For Germany, devastated by the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles, Soviet assistance was indispensable. Austria and occupied France had nothing to offer Germany, and the Swedes and Swiss traded for hard currency, which Germany did not have.

Stalin collaborated not so much with Germany as such, but specifically with the Nazis. For years he threw mud at the German Communist Party and interfered with its fight against the Nazis. Ideology is ideology, but Stalin was not interested in losers.

The Soviet Union was Germany's main political partner. These two countries cooperated very closely: the same division of Poland was discussed back in the early 1920s. During the war between Germany and Great Britain, the USSR hosted the German fleet in Murmansk and also supplied oil from which fuel for German aviation was made. Soviet-German cooperation was amazing: Germany annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia, the USSR annexed Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia; Germany forced France to conclude an armistice, and the USSR did the same with regard to Finland; both countries divided Poland between themselves; The Soviet Union financially helped Germany in the war with Great Britain.
The agreement to divide Poland was as necessary for Germany as air, because in 1939 it could not invade the Soviet sphere of influence. This was not possible in 1941 either: the Barbarossa plan worked only because Soviet and German troops were located very close, so that a tiny number of German bombers could make many short sorties. Poland was a buffer that prevented Germany from delivering a crushing first blow to the Red Army. A German invasion of Poland without the consent of the USSR would have led to war with a fully mobilized and incredibly strong Soviet army.

Germany's war with the USSR was an apocalyptic enterprise that the Nazis launched solely to prevent a Russian first strike. The Barbarossa plan was incredibly stupid: it envisaged an advance of 2,400 km to Arkhangelsk in four months, mostly over difficult terrain. The Soviet campaign was expected to be won before the end of the British one, despite the huge difference in the scale of operations. No factor of surprise allowed us to hope for victory over the much stronger Red Army. The Germans planned to carry out encirclements with a ridiculously small number of tanks, and the bombing was carried out by literally a few aircraft. The German headquarters understood all these limitations, but it simply had no other choice: it was confronted by gigantic Soviet forces, ready to invade the German sphere of interests. As Soviet documents show, these calculations were correct. Thus, in May 1941, the Soviet High Command issued a document of a clearly offensive nature: “Considerations on the plan for the strategic deployment of the Armed Forces of the USSR in the event of war by Germany and its allies.” Concentration of the best Soviet tanks on the border indentations into German-controlled territory on the eve of the war left no doubt about the intentions of the Communists.

The initial victories of the Germans can only be explained by the complete lack of experienced commanders in the Red Army and hatred of communists and Jews. These were not victories of the Wehrmacht, but collapse and disorganization in the Red Army itself in the first months of the war, when the totalitarian reins were temporarily weakened.

But let's return to the Jewish topic. The Germans did not plan massacres until 1942. They killed their mentally ill people, but not yet the Jews, although it is clear that the German public would have accepted their executions much more calmly. At first, neither mentally ill Jews nor even German communist Jews were killed. The Germans collaborated with the Zionists on the issue of relocating Jews to other countries. Zionist entity, agricultural and somehow camouflaged military training carried out with the direct permission of the Nazi authorities. The Germans even allowed Jewish emigrants to export significant amounts of foreign currency. Unfortunately, American Jewish organizations blocked all German efforts; for these organizations it was preferable for the Jews to remain in the Diaspora. To annoy Germany with the Jewish problem, the USA and Great Britain did not agree to resettle refugees to any country in the world, including their own Jewish homeland, which was allocated to us by the League of Nations. The well-known German plan for the resettlement of Jews to Madagascar was not a mockery at all, but a completely serious attempt to find an acceptable country. As a supporter of the transfer of Arabs from Israel, I see nothing wrong with the Germans wanting to be free of their Jews, as long as it was done in a relatively bloodless manner.
The Germans began executions for three reasons. First, the Allies blocked all Jewish resettlement routes. Jewish refugees could not obtain visas. When they crossed the border illegally, Switzerland sent them back to the Nazis. Britain pressured Bulgaria and Romania to tighten their lenient border regime and prevent Jews from escaping. The British forced Turkey to refuse to provide asylum to the Jews because they could then move “illegally” into the Land of Israel.

The second reason: the Germans were thirsty for revenge. They believed that Jews were an instrument of Soviet and American aggression against Germany. This assumption, although incorrect, made some sense: seeing that international Jewry was fiercely resisting pogroms and other manifestations of German unfriendliness towards Jews, the Nazis realized that the war was a continuation of the boycott.

The third reason lies in the apocalyptic mood that seized the Nazi leaders when they decided to go to war with the USSR. They began to dream of destroying the Jews and thereby changing the world.

Many peoples took part in the Holocaust: almost all European countries, Americans and some Arabs. But without the Soviet Union, the Catastrophe would have been impossible. The communists, who included a suspiciously large number of Jews, were preparing to deal Germany a fatal blow: by concluding a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939, Stalin encouraged it to attack Britain, which further weakened the Germans. Based on the massive rearmament of the Red Army, the Germans guessed about Stalin's aggressive intentions and themselves began to pull troops to the border. The Germans understood what the bet was on: the USSR was going to crush most of their army with one blow. Such treachery demanded revenge, and the Germans chose the Jews for it.
The Soviet Union showed Germany that mass ethnic cleansing was both effective and acceptable in the eyes of the world community. Soviet labor camps were less lethal for Jews than German labor camps, but Jews also had it worse in Soviet labor camps than other peoples. And the mortality rate in the Gulag even exceeded the rates in Nazi camps for non-Jews. Thus, out of 1 million 800 thousand German prisoners of war captured after the war, about 400 thousand died. German labor camps were copied from Soviet ones; There was nothing like this in any other country at that time.

In 1940, the Soviet Union began open ethnic cleansing against Jews, but a few months earlier, the Russians and Germans had already divided Poland. As a result, Jewish cities fell into the hands of the Nazis, who at that time were already actively repressing the Jewish population. When some Polish Jews managed to escape from the Nazis, the Russians interned them in Central Asia. Many internees there survived, which gave rise to a persistent rumor that Soviet Jews spent the war in Tashkent.

Stalin saved the lives of quite a few Jews, but mostly these were the families of communist officials. About a million such Jews, mostly from Western Ukraine and Russia, fled the advancing German forces. After the war, they changed the face of Eastern European Jewry, which turned into full-blown communists.

The Soviet Union openly assisted the Nazis in executions. Although massacres were known already on the first day of the war, information was deliberately suppressed. Given the variety of Soviet sources of information and press organs, an order from the very top was required to remove any mention of the murders of Jews. Soviet propaganda It operated even in the occupied territories - on the radio, through leaflets and rumors. However, the Jews continued to be in the dark about their fate and remained where they were. The state is responsible to its citizens. There might not have been enough trains, but what was stopping them from simply warning the Jews so that they would at least try to escape on foot? And the problem of logistics is far-fetched: during the retreat, the Red Army evacuated millions of family members of communist activists, and there would certainly have been a place for Jews. In many cases, Soviet authorities discouraged and even forbade Jews from leaving. Border guards sent back many Jewish refugees, especially from Latvia.

The Soviet ruling circles also contributed to the Holocaust by providing the Germans with information about the residence of Jews. Before the German offensive, most Soviet offices destroyed documents: burning papers was a common practice. But residence and registration documents were left intact in all cities, which allowed the Germans to quickly identify Jews. Many of the Jews were assimilated and could not be identified in any other way.

Soviet propaganda perfectly countered German propaganda. Soviet radio broadcasts debunked all German claims except one: that the war was provoked by Jews. The population already hated Jews and Jewish Bolsheviks (half a million Russians and Ukrainians joined the Nazi army), so silence on this issue on the radio was perceived as a silent confirmation of German anti-Semitism propaganda. Ordinary Soviet people actively helped the Germans identify Jews.

The disaster was led by the Germans, but the labor was supplied by the Slavs. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Slovaks, Croats, and many Russians worked in the camps and execution squads.

The Soviet Union was very careful not to interfere with the Holocaust. In tens of thousands of bomber missions to Germany through Poland, the extermination camps were carefully avoided: not a single bomb fell on them. The Russians bombed objects some kilometers away from the camps, but not the camps themselves. In Belarus, Soviet partisans waged a full-scale war with the Germans, blew up railways and infrastructure, but there was not a single organized attempt to either stop the killings, or help the ghetto residents, or even simply notify them of their fate.

The Russians reaffirmed their Jewish policy in 1953, when the entire country applauded the authorities' anti-Semitic rhetoric. Plans were developed for the resettlement of Jews to Siberia, which were prevented only by the death of Stalin. It was a unique plan of ethnic cleansing, comparable only to the Polish one. Jews were specially transported to their death: they were to be loaded into cattle cars, as under the Nazis, and taken to the coldest regions of Siberia, where their only housing would be barracks made of tar paper. In such conditions, the chances of surviving the winter were zero.

After the war, the Soviet leadership covered up the German killings of Jews, although other atrocities were widely reported. The word “Jew” was removed from all reports and official events, and the vague term “Soviet citizens” was used instead. This policy cannot be explained by the fact that the state condoned popular anti-Semitism: it has always been indifferent to public opinion. In addition, as practice shows, anti-Semites are not at all against it when Jews are mentioned in reports about the Holocaust. The state hushed up the killing of Jews for the same reason it hushed up many other events of the war, such as massive collaboration with the Nazis: communist regime swept shameful events under the rug. The authorities did not want the population to question who helped the killers.

The Soviet Union did not save the Jews: the Germans killed almost all the Jews they could find. In occupied Soviet territory, the Germans killed almost 100% of the Jews. If the war had lasted a few more years, the number of Jewish deaths would not have increased significantly. The Soviet Union raised the Nazi regime and provoked the war. Regardless of its victory, the Soviet regime bears responsibility for the Holocaust.

Militia fighters, soldiers of the Red Army (Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) and civilians of the occupied territories went over to the side of the enemy.

Who are the Hiwis?

What did the Khivi do with the Germans?

The Nazis used citizens of occupied countries in the army as drivers, cooks, grooms, security guards at rear facilities, loaders, sappers, storekeepers, and orderlies. Those who confirmed their loyalty and showed it in practice were allowed to take punitive measures, forays against partisans, as well as participate in combat operations of the regular army. They could also become police officers in occupied areas.
Khivi were actively used as propagandists - on the front line, with the help of megaphones, they called on the Red Army soldiers to throw down their weapons and go over to the Germans - “civilized progressive people.” Red Army volunteers also served in combat units of the Wehrmacht, receiving the status of hilfswilliger. Their presence worked to increase the influx of defectors.
In 1943, the headquarters of the Nazi 6th Army developed the “Main Directions for the Training of Voluntary Helpers.” The document stated that the purpose of training and education was to prepare hilfswilliger as “reliable comrades in the fight against Bolshevism.”
The Khivi did not include prisoners of war who were used for forced labor in concentration camps, and almost 5 million Ostarbeiters - residents of the occupied territories, deported to Germany for forced labor. Among them there were many women and teenagers.

Red Army soldiers captured by Germans made a choice between death and betrayal of their homeland in favor of survival. They were afraid to escape back to the Red Army troops or partisans - those who were captured and survived were usually considered traitors. Shooting one’s own seemed unforgivable to many, but why not join the auxiliary services? There were not so many ideological opponents of Soviet power among the prisoners of war.
Civilians in the occupied territories went over to the Nazis for various reasons. Some residents of the republics annexed to the USSR in 1940 have not forgotten how Soviet power was imposed “with fire and sword.” They sincerely believed that the Germans were better and more civilized.
Many coveted benefits from the occupiers, guaranteed rations, and monetary rewards. When a dilemma arose - a half-starved life for oneself and children or paid work and loyalty to the authorities - not everyone could resist.
In addition, at all times there have been selfish and unprincipled people who were ready for betrayal and cruelty for the sake of power and money. They were also in demand by the Germans and took their places in the ranks of the Hiwis.

The scale of the phenomenon

The experiment using hiwi brought results that exceeded the wildest expectations of the Germans. By the spring of 1942, the rear units of the German army included at least 200 thousand volunteer assistants, and by the beginning of 1943 their number reached a million.
The lack of an unambiguous interpretation (who is considered a Khiwi and who is forcibly mobilized) and the loss of German archives do not allow us to give an exact figure. According to the archives of the NKVD, in the period until March 1946, proceedings were initiated against 283 thousand Vlasovites, representatives of Cossack units and eastern legions, and these are only those who survived and were discovered.
Researcher S.I. Drobyazko believes that the SS, Wehrmacht, police and paramilitary units on Hitler’s side (ROA, RONA, Cossacks, Eastern and Baltic divisions) consisted of over a million people during the entire period of the war.
According to estimates by the German Office of Eastern Forces, as of February 2, 1943, the total number of Soviet citizens in German military service reached 750 thousand, including Khivi - from 400 to 600 thousand. These statistics do not include the Navy, Luftwaffe and SS. As of February 1945, the number of Khivi was determined to be 600 thousand people in the Wehrmacht, 15 thousand in the navy and 60 thousand in the Luftwaffe.

Few received monuments

High ranks and inglorious end

Among the Khiwis there were quite a few successful Red Army officers. This is not only Lieutenant General Andrei Vlasov, head of the ROA, but also the chief of staff of the Red Army division, Lieutenant Colonel Gil-Rodionov, who in 1943 again went over to the side of Soviet power, Hero of the Soviet Union, air squadron commander Bronislav Antilevsky, commander of the 41st Infantry Division, Colonel Vladimir Baersky.
All of them went over to the Nazi side after being captured. Their fate ended with a natural ending: Baersky was hanged in May 1945 by Czech partisans under the command of the Soviet captain Smirnov, Vlasov was hanged after trial in 1946, Antilevsky was shot in the same year, posthumously deprived of the title of Hero and orders in 1950.
The Khiwis who lived to see the end of the war and returned to the USSR were condemned as traitors and traitors to their homeland. Those who took part in the hostilities were sentenced to death or hanging; the rest went through camps and exile. 148 thousand people were sentenced to 6 years in special settlements.