Remember remember (but let's forget the Soviet Union)
This posting has these items:
1) Guardian: Why Vladimir Putin should be at the Auschwitz memorial ceremony;
2) Times of Israel: Russia accuses Poles of ‘mockery of history’ over Auschwitz;
3) Wikipedia: German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war;
4) HMD:The Stockholm Declaration;
5) HMD: Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the Holocaust Remembrance;
6) HMD: Stephen Fry launches Memory Makers project for Holocaust Memorial Day 2015;
7) Newham Recorder: Jewish community ‘fearful’ as fourth Holocaust Memorial Day poster defaced, Someone has scrawled ‘Liar’ over HMD posters in East London;
8) HMD: Holocaust Memorial Day Events, London;
A Red Army doctor with a group of survivors at the gate to Auschwitz, shortly after the camp’s liberation in January 1945. Photograph: Heritage Images/Getty Images
Why Vladimir Putin should be at the Auschwitz memorial ceremony
We should forget neither the Soviet Union’s role in liberating the camps nor its antisemitic blind spots
By Antony Beevor, The Guardian
January 20, 2015
On 27 January 1945 a reconnaissance patrol from the Soviet 107th Rifle Division emerged from the snow-laden forest 70km west of Kraków. The soldiers were mounted on shaggy ponies, their submachine guns slung across their backs. In front of them stood Auschwitz-Birkenau, the grimmest symbol of modern history. Officers gazed around in disbelief, then called in medical teams to care for the 3,000 sick prisoners left behind.
It is a great shame that Vladimir Putin, having not been invited, won’t be present at a memorial ceremony next week to mark the 70th anniversary – at the very least, it would have reminded the world that the advance of Stalin’s Red Army forced the SS to abandon the extermination camps in the east. And yet the muted row over the Russian president’s absence is a reminder that this particular chapter in Russia’s second world war history was, and remains, full of contradictions.
. The first death camp to be liberated by the Red Army was Majdanek just outside Lublin, in July 1944. The novelist and war correspondent Vasily Grossman was on the spot with the 8th Guards Army, which had defended Stalingrad, but an order came down that he was not to cover the story. The job was given instead to Konstantin Simonov, a favourite of the regime, who managed to avoid mentioning that any of the victims in Majdanek were Jewish.
Grossman, despite warnings from his friend Ilya Ehrenburg, had been slow to believe that antisemitism could exist within the Soviet hierarchy during the death struggle with Nazism. But in 1943 he had noticed that any reference to Jewish suffering was being cut from his articles. He wrote to complain to Aleksandr Shcherbakov, the chief of the Red Army political department. Shcherbakov replied: “The soldiers want to hear about [Russian military hero of the Napoleonic era] Suvorov, but you quote [German 19th-century poet] Heine”. Grossman joined Ehrenburg on the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee to chronicle Nazi crimes, unaware of how dangerous this might prove to be. Several of their colleagues were murdered by the secret police.
Certain truths about the Shoah could never be published. When Grossman wrote about the extermination camp of Treblinka, he could not reveal that the auxiliary guards were mostly Ukrainian. Collaboration with the enemy was a taboo subject since it undermined the rhetoric of the Great Patriotic War.
As the end of the war approached, controls became even stricter. Auschwitz may have been liberated at the end of January 1945, but no details were released until the final victory in May. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee soon found that its work was in direct opposition to the party instruction: “Do not divide the dead!” Jews were not to be seen as a special category of suffering. They were to be described only as citizens of the USSR and Poland. Thus in a way Stalin was the first Holocaust denier, even if his antisemitism was not quite the same as that of the Nazis. It was probably based more on a xenophobic suspicion of international connections than on racial hatred.
Soviet propaganda, while designating those killed at Auschwitz in collectively anonymous terms as “victims of fascism”, also portrayed the extermination camp as the ultimate capitalist factory, where the workers were murdered when no longer useful.
And there was a further twist away from the truth. The Stalinists emphasised how many Poles had died there to distract attention from their own crimes against the Polish people, both following the Red Army’s unprovoked invasion in 1939 under the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and its brutal occupation from 1944. They portrayed Auschwitz as the place of martyrdom for the Polish nation. By talking only of the Polish Catholics who had died there, they hoped that the Poles might focus any anger at their bitter fate entirely against Germany and not against the Soviet Union.
Few Poles were taken in during those postwar years of Soviet oppression. And now Putin’s ill-disguised attempts to reassert Russian control over Ukraine have of course reminded the Polish people all too clearly of what Soviet “liberation” meant for them in 1945. It is not therefore surprising that we should be seeing a certain amount of diplomatic shadow-boxing in the background, while both sides insist everything is normal. The Kremlin is pretending not to have been snubbed by the fact that President Putin has not been asked to the commemoration event; meanwhile, the Polish government insists it was not issuing formal invitations. The Auschwitz international committee, which includes a Russian representative, was simply asking each government who would be representing them.
Putin made a speech at Auschwitz 10 years ago on the 60th anniversary, and no doubt he will again proclaim in Moscow on 9 May – Russia’s Victory Day – that the Red Army’s defeat of “the fascist beast” saved Europe from Nazi slavery. But those countries, especially Poland and the Baltic states, that experienced the ensuing 40 years of Communist dictatorship glance nervously east once more. Russia, obsessed for centuries by a fear of encirclement and surprise attack, has always felt justified in dominating its “near abroad”. It was Stalin’s shock at Hitler’s invasion in 1941, and his consequent determination to create a defensive cordon, that led to the cold war. Putin, fortunately, is a very pale imitation of his hero.
• Antony Beevor’s next book, Ardennes – 1944: Hitler’s Last Gamble, is out in May
January 1945, three Auschwitz prisoners, right, talk with Soviet soldiers after the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, in Poland, was liberated by the Soviet army. Photo credit: AP/FILE
Russia accuses Poles of ‘mockery of history’ over Auschwitz
Moscow slams Polish FM after he credits Ukrainian military, and not Soviet Red Army, for liberating death camp
By Vanessa Gera, Times of Israel
January 23, 2015
WARSAW, Poland — Russia has accused Poland of engaging in a “mockery of history” after the Polish foreign minister credited Ukrainian soldiers, rather than the Soviet Red Army, with liberating Auschwitz 70 years ago.
The exchange underlines the deep tensions between Russia and Poland, which is hugely critical of Russian actions in Ukraine. Those strains are casting a shadow over the 70th anniversary commemorations of the liberation of the Nazi death camp, which will be held Tuesday in Poland.
Poland has apparently snubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will not attend even though he was at the 60th anniversary event in 2005. The situation is particularly awkward since Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945, and some of the more than 1.1 million victims were Soviet citizens, including Jews and prisoners of war.
In a radio interview Wednesday, Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna was challenged over what the journalist called the “pettiness” of not inviting Putin, given that he is the inheritor of the Soviet Union and that the Red Army freed Auschwitz.
Schetyna replied that “maybe it’s better to say … that the First Ukrainian Front and Ukrainians liberated (Auschwitz), because Ukrainian soldiers were there, on that January day, and they opened the gates of the camp and they liberated the camp.”
In Russia, Schetyna’s comments were seen as a cynical insult and drew an avalanche of angry official comments. The Foreign Ministry accused Schetyna of “anti-Russian hysteria” and disrespecting the memory of those who died liberating Europe from Hitler.
“It’s common knowledge that Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, in which all nationalities heroically served,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We believe that the mockery of history needs to be stopped.”
The group of forces involved in the liberation of Auschwitz was called the First Ukrainian Front after it pushed the Nazis back across the territory of then-Soviet Ukraine before moving into Poland.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Schetyna’s comments “sacrilegious and cynical.”
“Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, which included Russians, Ukrainians, Chechens, Tatars and Georgians, among others,” Lavrov said.
At the United Nations, Russia’s envoy Vitaly Churkin addressed the Polish envoy, telling him that the First Ukrainian Front, like other Red Army forces, contained representatives of the Soviet Union’s more than 100 ethnic groups and asking him to convey the information to Schetyna.
The organizers of the ceremonies, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the International Auschwitz Council, did not issue specific invitations to national leaders this year, but asked nations contributing funds to the site — including Russia — if they were going to attend.
Poland appears to have used this form of protocol as a way of avoiding a direct invitation to Putin. Some Poles have been critical of this, saying politics should not intrude on such a major Holocaust commemoration, the last one where a significant number of Auschwitz survivors can still be expected to attend.
Schetyna, though, put the blame on Putin for not attending, saying it was his decision.
The Nazis operated the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in occupied Poland from 1940 to 1945. Most of the victims were Jews, but Roma and other groups were also killed there.
Soviet prisoners of war held at Mauthausen camp. Unknown date.
German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war
Death toll
It is estimated that at least 3.3 million Soviet POWs died in Nazi custody, out of 5.7 million. This figure represents a total of 57% of all Soviet POWs and may be contrasted with only 8,300 out of 231,000 British and U.S. prisoners, or 3.6%. Some estimates range as high as 5 million dead, including those killed immediately after surrendering (an indeterminate, although certainly very large number).About 5% of the Soviet prisoners who died were of Jewish ethnicity; in some cases, circumcised Muslim prisoners were mistaken for religious Jews and killed.
Soviet prisoners of war in German concentration and extermination camps.
POW camps
The camps established especially for the Soviet POWs were called Russenlager. Conditions were often even actually worse than those commonly experienced by prisoners in regular concentration camps.
Hundreds of thousands died, some were shot, most died through starvation or disease.
Soviet prisoners of war in German concentration and extermination camps
Between 140,000 and 500,000 Soviet prisoners of war died or were executed in Nazi concentration camps. Most of those executed were killed by shooting but some were gassed.
Auschwitz concentration camp: From about 15,000 Soviet POWs who were brought to Auschwitz I for work, only 92 remained alive at the last roll call.
About 3,000 were killed by being shot or gassed immediately after arriving. Out of the first 10,000 brought to work in 1941, 9,000 died in the first five months.
A group of about 600 Soviet prisoners were gassed in the first Zyklon-B experiments on September 3, 1941; in December 1941, a further 900 Soviet POWs were murdered by means of gas.
In March 1941, Heinrich Himmler ordered the construction of a large camp for 100,000 Soviet POWs at Birkenau, in close proximity to the main camp. Most of the Soviet prisoners were dead by the time Birkenau was reclassified as the Auschwitz II concentration camp in March 1942.
Buchenwald concentration camp: 8,483 Soviet POWs were selected in 1941–1942 by three Dresden Gestapo officers and sent to the camp for immediate liquidation by a gunshot to the back of the neck, the infamous Genickschuss using a purpose-built facility.
Chełmno extermination camp: The victims murdered at the Chełmno killing centre included several hundred Poles and Soviet POWs.
Dachau concentration camp: Some 500 Soviet POWs were executed by a firing squad in Dachau.
Flossenbürg concentration camp: More than 1,000 Soviet POWs were executed in Flossenbürg by the end of 1941; executions continued sporadically up to 1944. The POWs at one of the sub-camps staged a failed uprising and mass escape attempt on May 1, 1944. The SS also established a special camp for 2,000 Soviet POWs within Flossenbürg itself.
Gross-Rosen concentration camp: 65,000 Soviet POWs were killed by feeding them only a thin soup of grass, water, and salt for six months.
In October 1941 the SS transferred about 3,000 Soviet POWs to Gross-Rosen for execution by shooting.
Hinzert concentration camp: A group of 70 POWs were told that they would undergo a medical examination, but instead were injected with potassium cyanide, a deadly poison.
Majdanek concentration camp: The first transport directed toward Majdanek consisted of 5,000 Soviet POWs arriving in the latter half of 1941, they soon died of starvation and exposure. Executions were also conducted there by the shooting of prisoners in trenches.
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp: Following the outbreak of the Soviet–German War the camps started to receive a large number of Soviet POWs; most of them were kept in huts separated from the rest of the camp. Soviet POWs were a major part of the first groups to be gassed in the newly built gas chamber in early 1942; at least 2,843 of them were murdered in the camp. According to the USHMM, “so many POWs were shot that the local population complained that their water supply had been contaminated. The rivers and streams near the camp ran red with blood.”
Neuengamme concentration camp: According to the testimony of Wilhelm Bahr, an ex-medical orderly, during the trial against Bruno Tesch, 200 Soviet POWs were gassed by prussic acid in 1942.
Sachsenhausen concentration camp: Soviet POWs were victims of the largest part of the executions that took place. Thousands of them were murdered immediately after arriving at the camp, including 9,090 executed between August 31 and October 2, 1941. Among those who died there was Stalin’s elder son, Lt. Yakov Dzhugashvili.
Sobibór extermination camp: Soviet POWs of Jewish ethnicity were among hundreds of thousands people gassed at Sobibór. A group of captive Soviet officers led by 2nd Lt. Alexander Pechersky organized a successful mass breakout from Sobibor, after which the SS closed and dismantled the camp.
One of 70 candles designed by Anish Kapoor for the 70th anniversary of the ending of the Nazi genocide.
In 2000 representatives from 46 governments around the world met in Stockholm to discuss Holocaust education, remembrance and research. They produced a statement which was later adopted by the UN.
United Nations statement of commitment
We recognise that the Holocaust shook the foundations of modern civilisation. Its unprecedented character and horror will always hold universal meaning.
We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s collective memory. We honour the survivors still with us, and reaffirm our shared goals of mutual understanding and justice.
We must make sure that future generations understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences. We vow to remember the victims of Nazi persecution and of all genocide.
We value the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives to protect or rescue victims, as a touchstone of the human capacity for good in the face of evil.
We recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality make some people’s lives worth less than others’. Genocide, antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination still continue. We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils.
We pledge to strengthen our efforts to promote education and research about the Holocaust and other genocide. We will do our utmost to make sure that the lessons of such events are fully learnt.
We will continue to encourage Holocaust remembrance by holding an annual Holocaust Memorial Day. We condemn the evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism. We value a free, tolerant, and democratic society.
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the Holocaust Remembrance (A/RES/60/7, 1 November 2005)
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, religion or other status,
Recalling article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person,
Recalling also article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which state that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,
Bearing in mind that the founding principle of the Charter of the United Nations, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”, is testimony to the indelible link between the United Nations and the unique tragedy of the Second World War,
Recalling the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was adopted in order to avoid repetition of genocides such as those committed by the Nazi regime,
Recalling also the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind,
Taking note of the fact that the sixtieth session of the General Assembly is taking place during the sixtieth year of the defeat of the Nazi regime,
Recalling the twenty-eighth special session of the General Assembly, a unique event, held in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps,
Honouring the courage and dedication shown by the soldiers who liberated the concentration camps,
Reaffirming 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,
1. Resolves that the United Nations will designate 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust;
2. Urges Member States to develop educational programmes that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide, and in this context commends the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research;
3. Rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full or part;
4. Commends those States which have actively engaged in preserving those sites that served as Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labour camps and prisons during the Holocaust;
5. Condemns without reserve all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, wherever they occur;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to establish a programme of outreach on the subject of the “Holocaust and the United Nations” as well as measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide; to report to the General Assembly on the establishment of this programme within six months from the date of the adoption of the present resolution; and to report thereafter on the implementation of the programme at its sixty-third session.
United Nations statement of commitment
We recognise that the Holocaust shook the foundations of modern civilisation. Its unprecedented character and horror will always hold universal meaning.
We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s collective memory. We honour the survivors still with us, and reaffirm our shared goals of mutual understanding and justice.
We must make sure that future generations understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences. We vow to remember the victims of Nazi persecution and of all genocide.
We value the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives to protect or rescue victims, as a touchstone of the human capacity for good in the face of evil.
We recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality make some people’s lives worth less than others’.
Genocide, antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination still continue. We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils.
We pledge to strengthen our efforts to promote education and research about the Holocaust and other genocide. We will do our utmost to make sure that the lessons of such events are fully learnt.
We will continue to encourage Holocaust remembrance by holding an annual Holocaust Memorial Day. We condemn the evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism. We value a free, tolerant, and democratic society.
Stephen Fry launches Memory Makers project for Holocaust Memorial Day 2015
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
November 17, 2014
Today Stephen Fry joins a diverse group of British artists and Holocaust and genocide survivors in launching a major new arts project in which survivors’ stories will be interpreted and explored through writing, poetry, film, ceramics, illustration and collage.
Launching today – 70 days before Holocaust Memorial Day – the Memory Makers project is pairing seven artists with survivors of genocide living in the UK. The artists have partnered with survivors to hear their remarkable life stories, before creating a work of art that captures the experience of the meeting, and explores the horrors and consequences of the atrocities.
Stephen Fry met with 89-year-old Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a cellist and a surviving member of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. He is currently working on a written response to the memories she shared with him at her home in London. He hope his contributions encourages more people to contribute to the project:
Stephen Fry meets survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch
‘The grotesque and growing spectre of Holocaust denial makes it more and more urgent for the young, now so many more generations separated from the Shoah, to listen to those who went through it and to understand the meaning of it. How else can its repetition – against any racial or other group in any society – be prevented? By meeting with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and contributing to the Memory Makers project I hope more people will mark Holocaust Memorial Day by reading and listening to the testimony of Holocaust survivors.’
Alongside Stephen Fry, British artists who are taking part in the project are ceramicist Clare Twomey; visually impaired illustrator Kimberly Burrows; Welsh animator Gemma Green-Hope; collage artist Martin O’Neil, in collaboration with filmmaker Andrew Griffin; poet Sarah Hesketh; and film director Debs Paterson. Visit the Memory Makers website to find out about the survivors they have been paired with.
Our Moving Portraits are also included on the Memory Makers website as a completed project. You can explore these animated photographs created by Will Head to see how they bring to life survivor stories through objects that are significant to the subjects of the images.
Become a Memory Maker
We are asking you to get involved with the Memory Makers project by sharing these powerful stories of survivors with your family and friends.
You can also create and submit your own artistic response to the life stories of survivors in the same way that our Memory Makers artists are doing. The best submissions will be showcased in our online gallery.
Olivia Marks-Woldman, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, says:
‘It is absolutely vital that the lessons of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides are not lost to history. Survivors’ experiences remind us how important it is to confront all forms of hatred and discrimination, and this group of British artists is helping to interpret their stories in new ways.’
Memory Makers ensures that a new generation can engage with these important stories from the Holocaust, as well as from genocides that have happened since. It’s crucial for us all to remember that genocide doesn’t happen to black and white crowds in history documentaries, it happens to colourful individuals with unique stories.
Play your part and Keep the memory alive by sharing the life story of a survivor.
Take part in the project and find out more about the survivors and artists involved by visiting Keepthememoryalive.hmd.org.uk.
Be inspired by the artists and life stories to submit your own personal artistic response for Holocaust Memorial Day 2015.
Artworks will be revealed in January, ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2015.
#MemoryMakers
A vandalised poster in High Street, Stratford
Jewish community ‘fearful’ as fourth Holocaust Memorial Day poster defaced
By Janine Rasiah, Newham Recorder
January 19, 2015
Defacing of Holocaust Memorial Day posters has left Newham’s Jewish community afraid, according to the director of a project tracing the faith’s history in the East End.
Speaking after a fourth poster was reported as vandalised on Friday night, Judith Garfield, executive director of Eastside Community Heritage, said Jewish people are now “a lot more fearful of working with other communities”.
The vandalism of a poster advertising the council’s Holocaust Memorial Day service in Balaam Street, Plaistow, was the latest in a spate of what police are describing as “racially aggravated” attacks.
The words “liars” and “killers” were daubed in red paint on three posters – two in High Street, Stratford, and one in West Ham Lane, near Stratford Park – earlier last week.
Anyone with information relating to the crimes should contact police on 101. This number can also be used to report a crime.
Holocaust Memorial Day Events, London
Holocaust Memorial Day concert – Ruskin House, Croydon
Saturday 25 January 2014
London Borough Of Barnet Holocaust Memorial Day Ceremony – Middlesex University, Hendon
Sunday 18 January 2015
HMD event – Edgware & District Reform Synagogue
Monday 19 January 2015
Candle memorial – Barking & Dagenham College, Romford
Tuesday 20 January 2015 to Wednesday 28 January 2015
The Eichmann Show+Q&A film srceening – Ritzy Picturehouse, Brixton
Tuesday 20 January 2015
Arbeit Macht Frei: Immersive Performance – Coombe Boys’ School, New Malden
Friday 23 January 2015
Witness the Witness – Holocaust survivor speaker events at Jewish Museum London
Sunday 25 January 2015 to Sunday 12 April 2015
Holocaust Memorial Day – Haringey
Sunday 25 January 2015
HMD civic commemoration – Rivoli Ballroom, Brockley
Sunday 25 January 2015
Holocaust Memories – Gidea Park Library
Monday 26 January 2015
HMD Event – Gidea Park Library
Monday 26 January 2015
Let it Go: Dame Stephanie Shirley
Monday 26 January 2015
Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration – Hackney Town Hall
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Croydon Council’s HMD ceremony – Croydon Town Hall
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Holocaust Memorial Day Event – Goldsmith’s Student Union
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Keep the memory alive – Court Moor School
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Holocaust Memorial Day – Brent Civic Centre
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Regina film screening and panel – Royal Holloway University, London
Wednesday 28 January 2015
Kingston upon Thames’ HMD Event
Sunday 1 February 2015
Click here for events outside London