Vladimir Malygin
This year the world is celebrating the 70th anniversary of victory in the bloodiest and most cruel war of the XX century – World War II.
In Russia it is usually referred to as the Great Patriotic War, a term used to describe the war between the USSR and Nazi Germany and its satellites,that raged between June 22, 1941 and May 9, 1945 and ended in the ultimate military, political, economical and ideological victory of the Soviet Union.This victory had a decisive meaning for the outcome of World War II, whichcame to an end several months later, in September 1945.
It would only be fair to emphasize the decisive contribution of the Soviet people to the victory over Nazism. It was the Soviet Union that absorbed the brunt of the Nazi invasion, becoming the main barrier in the way of spreading Fascist dominationupon peoples of the world.
Three fourths of the German armed forces were defeated on the German-Soviet Front. The Red Army fully or partially liberated Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, eastern regions of Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Denmark, north-eastern provinces of China and Korea and conquered Berlin.
At the same time, our country paid an enormous price for the victory. The damage done to the Soviet Union was greater than the combined damage of all other European countries.
The total demographical losses amounted to 27 million people. This is two times higher than that of Germany and far greater than the death toll of France (635.000 people), the US (405.000) and the UK (350.000).
The victory could only be achieved by joint efforts of all who took part in the struggle against Nazism on the side of the Allied Forces. We remember the assistance received from our Allies.For example, through its Lend-Lease policy, the US supplied the USSR and other countries with food, oil and military equipment.
Malta played its own significant role and made a major contribution to the common victory. The battle for Malta has ranked in history as one of the great defensive and strategic operations of all time.
It is a not very well known fact, however, that the victory in Malta in 1943 was indirectly connected to the Battle of Stalingrad. After the Germans had been defeated there, they withdrew a vast military force from the West, including the one that was used against Malta, and sent it to the Eastern front.
One should always remember that the victory in the war prevented the Nazis, who subscribed to theories of racial supremacy and anti-Semitism and were behind the Holocaust, from spreading their ideology all over the world. They openly and publicly proclaimed as a goal the elimination of entire ethnic groups – Jews and Roma as well as the majority of Slavs.It is a fact that their plans foresaw physical elimination of up to 100% of Russians, 95% of Poles, 70% of Latvians, 85% of Lithuanians, 50% of French and Czech.
The victory over Nazism remains a lesson that is relevant today, when there are still those who are trying to revive this abhorring ideology and rewrite history.
According to the latest report of the Russian Foreign Ministry, manifestations of racism, violent extremism, aggressive nationalism and neo-Nazism are on the rise in the world.
But it is difficult to explain why. Some experts point to the growing world instability and insecurity, as well as the desire of certain countries to destabilize other states and whole regions in order to achieve their geopolitical goals.
For more than twenty years, rallies of Waffen SS veterans, who collaborated with Hitler, have been taking place in an EU member country, Latvia. Similar events are organized in Estonia. Worrying phenomena are being observed in Lithuania, Bulgaria, France, Norway, the US and Canada.
Arguably the most vivid examples of neo-Nazism can be currently seen in Ukraine. The transformation of a country, whose people suffered huge losses during the war, whose mothers, wives and children were tortured by the Nazis and whose fathers and grandfathers fought in the ranks of the Red Army, into a state where neo-Nazi formations now operate openly is beyond comprehension.
I am convinced that systemic work aimed at countering attempts to glorify Nazism, any forms and manifestations of racism, xenophobia, aggressive nationalism and chauvinism must remain at the center of attention of the international community.
Today we need to learn due lessons from the tragic past. Humankind must always remember the terrible consequences of attempts to establish world domination, the belief in one's own exceptionality, unscrupulous behavior in achieving one's dubious goals and the neglect of rules of law and morality.
True security can only be uniform and undivided, based on international law, the coordinating role of the UN and collective search for solutions to numerous present-day challenges and threats.
Vladimir Malygin is Russian ambassador to Malta