Tag Archives: USSR

How the Anglo-Saxons Nurtured Ukrainian Nationalism After the Second World War – Dmitry Medvedev

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An article by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, publish in magazine Rodina on December 25, 2025.

Nationalism is a manifestation of a nation’s weakness, not its strength. For the most part, weak nations are infected with nationalism <...> Like any evil, it hides, lives in darkness, and only pretends to be born out of love for its country. But it is actually generated by anger, hatred towards other nations and towards that part of their own people who do not share nationalist views.

D.S. Lihachev [1]

The claw of England.
The inscription in French reads: “Shame on anyone who thinks evil of it. God is my right.”

1. Tantum scimus, quantum memoria tene-mus [2]

(Latin: “We know as much as we remember”)

The Anglo-Saxon ideological roots of the Nazi “death machine” were discussed in detail in the article “How the Anglo-Saxons Promoted Fascism in the 20th Century and Revived It in the 21st. Five historical questions for our former Allies”. [3] At the same time, the defeat of Nazism in May 1945 did not stop Washington and London from trying to find another object for political vivisection under a nationalist sauce.

The traditional garment of the Malorossians

The shocking details of the biography of the ancestors of Blaise Matreveli, a high-ranking employee of the British state security agencies who took up the post of director of the Secret Intelligence Service of the British Foreign Office (MI6) on October 1, 2025, which surfaced in June 2025, are an excellent illustration of the carefully hidden context in Anglo-Saxon countries [4], [5]. As historians and public figures who are not indifferent to upholding the truth about the past have found out, her paternal grandfather was the collaborator K.A. Dobrovolsky, who in August 1941 voluntarily surrendered to the Germans and was then placed by the occupation authorities at the head of a detachment of auxiliary police in the village Sosnitsa, Chernigov region, engaged in the mass extermination of civilians and partisans. By December 1941, his unit was operating far beyond the area of the village “entrusted” to him, participating in monstrous punitive actions and looting. The Judas himself joined in July 1942 a secret field police [6], was distinguished by extreme brutality, earning the nickname “The Butcher” from his colleagues, and his handwritten reports with the signature “Heil Hitler” are still in the German archives (one can only wonder how the long hands of unscrupulous British spies did not get to such sensitive materials over the past decades, and did not destroy them). In 1943, fearing just retribution, K.A. Dobrovolsky and his family joined the German troops retreating from the Red Army to the west, after which the traces of the bloody henchman of the third Reich are lost.
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Soviet Union – Kersari Music Video

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In this music video by Kersari, the young generation is picking up the banner of remembrance of the great and mighty Soviet Union.

“That country didn’t disappear from the map, do realise —
It’s in the DNA, it’s somewhere inside…”


Backup at Rumble.

Translated by and first presented at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

On March 17, 1991, an All-Union referendum was helt, where people overwhelmingly voted for the preservation of the Union – a popular vote that was completely disregarded.

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Zionism Before the Court of History (1982) – Soviet Film

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A damning documentary exposing the reactionary ideology and practices of Zionism and the State of Israel.


Backup at Rumble.

The documentary titled “Сионизм перед судом истории” (Zionism Before the Court of History) from 1982 presents a critical examination of Zionism, its historical roots, and its consequences for both Jews and Palestinians. This post aims to summarize the key points raised in the documentary, providing a comprehensive understanding of the complex issues surrounding Zionism.

Director: Oleg Uralov
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What makes the greatest soldier – General Alexander Lebed speaks

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Both Russia, Palestine and Iran know what it takes to forge the greatest soldier – something the Americans know little of, having never been on the receiving end of a ruthless, annihilating invasion.

General Alexander Lebed speaks about what kind of people make the greatest soldiers.

This video is from 1995. Translation by Putinger’s Cat


Backup at Rumble.

The greatest soldiers are made from people who hadn’t even thought about war going out one morning, and, then, returning in the evening, found craters instead of their houses, in which the wives, children and parents had evaporated. And now this is no longer a man, but a wolf, who will tear as long as he lives. And he will live long because he does not value his own life – he does not need it. He does not need money. He does not need medals. He does not need anything at all. He has only one thing: revenge. That is precisely why he will live long.

The Council of Ministers of the USSR announced a reduction in prices for consumer goods on February 28, 1949

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After the Great Patriotic War, the financial system of the USSR was in a difficult situation. In order to restore the purchasing power of the rouble and improve the welfare of the population, monetary reform was initiated at the end of 1947, during which banknotes and deposits were changed out, as well as starting a gradual reduction in commodity prices. The first stage of the price reform was carried out by an order of the USSR Ministry of Trade dated December 14, 1947, which established fixed reduced prices for a limited list of food and industrial goods, which included bread, flour, sugar, butter, sunflower oil, beef meat and other goods.

By the beginning of 1949, thanks to the rise of the national economy, a reduction in the cost of goods and an increase in production, it became possible to carry out another price reduction for a wider range of goods in high demand. The corresponding joint resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) was published on February 28, 1949 in the newspaper Pravda. Since March 1, 1949, the prices of bread, meat, sausages, fish, butter, wool and silk fabrics, furs, household goods and electrical goods, cameras and binoculars has reduced by 10%, the price of woollen garments has decreased by 12%, hats and dresses have become cheaper by 15%, and cheeses, perfumes, jewellery, bicycles, tableware and household appliances fell in price by 20%. In addition, the price of hay has decreased by 30%, and mixed feed has become 20% cheaper.

Due to the decrease in prices made on March 1, 1949, the purchasing power of the rouble increased significantly, its exchange rate improved compared to the exchange rate of foreign currencies, real wages of workers increased and the costs incurred by the peasants for the purchase of industrial goods decreased. “In this undertaking, the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet government demonstrated with renewed vigour the great concern for the working people, for their prosperity, for the growth of well-being and culture,” the newspaper Pravda reported in an editorial on March 1, 1949.

Source: CPRF, translated by Beorn And The Shieldmaiden

Read also April 1 — The Day of Price Reductions in Stalin’s Time

USA-Israeli aggressions through the eyes of the Soviet caricatures

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Here we bring three caricatures from the times of USA’s attack on Iran and Vietnam, as well as USA-Israeli war in the Middle east…

He’s sticking in his aircraft carrier nose

With the USS Abraham Lincoln lined up against Iran, let’s take a look through Soviet satire at the continuous US ‘meddling in Iranian affairs’ before returning to the latest update on the situation in the Sea of Oman.

The caricature by Yu.Cherepanov in the Soviet satirical magazine “Krokodil” issue №4 from 1979 illustrated this news:
“In the American government circles and in the Pentagon, they discuss various options for interference of the USA into the domestic affairs of Iran.”

✍️ The title of the caricature is an untranslatable pun, which forms the basis for the drawing: “Aircraft carrier” in Russian is “Avianosets”, while “nose” is “nos”, which gives an image of an “AviaNOS” — an “air-NOSE-carrier”. The word above the keyhole is “Iran”.

Source: @BeornAndTheShieldmaiden

⚡️⚡️⚡️

Update as of March 5, 2026:

USS Abraham Lincoln flees after precision strike by IRGC drones in Sea of Oman

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has successfully targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier using advanced domestically-produced drones, forcing the strike group into a rapid retreat near Iranian territorial waters.

Source: @PressTV

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The Myth of the “Stalinist Purges”

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The fairy tale hour of Western historians regarding Stalin has many chapters, much rubbish and black myths have been piled over his name. The period of the purges of 1937 is one such area. It was later inflated by Solzhenicin’s imagination to come up with outlandish numbers of “Stalin’s victims”.

The material in this series, first translated by us at “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”, from ANALYTICS & NEWS will address that trouble period. Troubled, for quite different reasons than what Western historiography is propagating.

Other materials on this topic:
👉 The history of repressions devoid of emotion. Viktor Zemskov’s arguments and facts
👉 Myths about Stalin. Where do legs grow from?

The fairy tale hour of Western historians regarding Stalin has many chapters. After the myth of the “Holodomor”, we will now clear up the next myth.

❗️Throughout this article, crucial questions will arise that apparently 99% of historians have not asked themselves, have refused to ask, or were not allowed to ask.

⚠️ We do not question that these years of “terror” and the subsequent purge took place. However, we will show who was responsible for the first phase and why it became necessary for phase 2, the purge, to be carried out.

🔻First, we would like to begin with two quotes that you should keep in mind:

“This is how I remember encounters, conversations with Stalin, how often about certain topics – all of this fell on deaf ears! When did I start to remember? When they began to heap all kinds of dirt on Stalin. I do not wonder how many people died under him, but how he managed to put an end to it! After all, the general mood was such that they could have destroyed half the country with their own hands. And you think to yourself, the devil take it, how things are going in our Russia! You think of past times, of Peter the Great, and you see: everything repeats itself. History repeats itself, perhaps in a new way, but it repeats itself nonetheless. More than once I remembered how often Stalin said that being determines consciousness, and consciousness lags behind being! And the thought comes to me: Basically, we must think communistically. But it is thought as in the 18th century: how to push someone else aside!”
– Vyacheslav Molotov

“Learn self-control, dear comrade, otherwise, despite all your good professional qualities, you will not be able to keep your head: you will repeat my fate – you will be removed before you have time to fulfil the mission. You see for yourself that among the ‘leaders’ of the party there are no Bolshevik cadres capable of leadership… but the mission of Bolshevism must continue, otherwise the Freemasons and the foolishly babbling intelligence bound by them will completely overwhelm the people.”
– Note from Vladimir Lenin to Stalin

The Plenary Session from 23.02.1937 to 05.03.1937 and the Beginning of the “Great Terror”

Stalin proposed a very extensive and detailed program of reforms to the plenary. The goal was to set aside everything that happened during the civil wars and subsequently during the outbreaks of class struggle, including collectivisation. The most urgent economic problems were to be solved, and the focus was to be on building the nation and uniting the people.
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Plan GOELRO – Lenin’s revolutionary plan for the electrification of the USSR

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Electrification of the young Socialist state was one of the many vitally important tasks that Lenin embarked on after the Revolution, and that was carried to admirable heights in the subsequent years.

On December 22, 1920, the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets opened, adopting a plan for the electrification of Russia – the GOELRO plan

The initiator and inspiration of the GOELRO plan was V.I.Lenin. To draw up the plan, On February 21st 1920, the State Commission for Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) was created. GOELRO, short for “State Electrification of Russia” was the plan for the development of not only the energy sector, but the entire economy. The commission included over 200 of the best Russian engineers and scientists, headed by G.M.Krzhizhanovsky.

By December 1920, the commission had completed its work. The Congress, held on December 22-29, 1920, approved the GOELRO plan. In his report to the congress, Lenin, calling the GOELRO plan the second program of the party, put forward a brilliant formula:

“Communism is Soviet power plus electrification of the entire country. Without an electrification plan, we cannot move on to real construction… Only when the country is electrified, when the technical base of modern large-scale industry is provided for industry, agriculture and transport, only then will we finally win.”

Lenin ended his historic speech to thunderous applause from the congress delegates with the following words:

“ …if Russia is covered with a dense network of electric stations and powerful technical equipment, then our economic communist construction will become a model for the future socialist Europe and Asia.”

The GOELRO plan was calculated for 10-15 years and provided for a radical reconstruction of the national economy based on electrification.
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We will expose and destroy provocateurs and those spreading panicked rumours

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Before you is a poster by Vladimir Milashevski, published in Leningrad in 1941. Its caption reads: “We will expose and destroy provocateurs and those spreading panicked rumours”. The same was true for Moscow.

We present a publication from our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

Just like in 1941, so now — be on guard and do not fall for provocative rumours that instil fear, uncertainty and doubt!

In his speech at the Red Square parade on the 7th of November 1941, Iosif Stalin said:

The enemy is not as strong as some frightened intellectuals portray it. The devil is not so terrible as they paint him.
The «frightened intellectuals», in today’s terms, would be the liberal 5th column.

Here is a short fragment of an article «How Stalin dismantled the 5th column in the fall of 1941».

♦️♦️♦️

The problem of the 5th column existed, exists and will exist, perhaps, forever. It is not so easy to identify the 5th column, only the master can do this. And Stalin did it in October 1941!

Reading the memoirs of Academician Vernadsky, you discover two details that seem to contradict each other. Many people see this in the media about the Defence of Moscow: they say that the hardest days were October 16-17, that’s when panic arose. The «worst» part of the population, it must be assumed, imagined that German tanks were about to enter Moscow, trampling the streets with their tracks. There were some reasons for this hallucination – first of all, the fact that on the morning of October 16, the Sovinformburo did not give, as always, a summary from the theatre of military operations, and it was briefly reported that the Germans broke through the front. And that’s it.

In addition of the case with the radio, the top management instructed to open industrial goods stores, where everything was distributed for free — take as much as you like. And grocery stores received instructions to dispense food on the food cards up to the end of the month and even gave more than what the card norms provided for — from which many concluded that all food stocks are being liquidated and this can only mean one thing — the end. Even the trams stopped running.

Some strangers called the institutions and shouted at the directors that it was necessary to leave Moscow immediately, leave it as soon as possible. Many directors who had transport at their disposal filled these trucks with food, plus grabbed huge amounts of state money, and tried to leave Moscow, but the population quickly organised themselves into people’s outposts, these cars were stopped and panickers were killed. There is a (very poor) reconstruction of these posts in the 1985 movie “Battle for Moscow”.

By the evening, policemen joined the people’s outposts and also began to participate in the elimination of alarmists.

But not everyone rushed out of the city, obeying the calls of unfamiliar voices on the phone, not all the directors turned out to be cheap panickers — there were many who continued their work. Many people not in high positions remained calm — they formed the backbone of the people’s outposts, which dealt with the alarmists.

♦️♦️♦️

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was in fact in Moscow on November 16-17 and participated as a member of Komsomol in the people’s outposts. She is the epitome of steadfastness! Reportedly, according to her mother’s words, Zoya said about the 5th columnists at that time: «The ship is not yet sinking, but the despicable rats are already running.»

The Liberation of Krakow

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Below are two fragments from chapter 7 of the book «1945. The Red Army’s Blitzkrieg» by Valentin Aleksandrovich Runov, which we initially presented at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

Contrast the following testimony to how Anglo-Americans treated Dortmund, Dresden, Prague, Königsberg, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and more….

Wawel castle and its cathedral

Writer Boris Polevoy shared his impressions of his stay in Krakow on the first day of its liberation:

Yes, it is fortunate that this city was saved. We were driving through medieval streets, and the guide was telling us: the fifteenth century, the sixteenth century, the eighteenth century.

— Please, stop here.

We went out, and the teacher solemnly declared:

— This is the tenth century. The chapel of Felix and Adauctus (https://wawel.krakow.pl/en/exhibition-constant/the-lost-wawel-1). The pearl of Europe.

And indeed, one could admire the example of magnificent architecture. The architecture is strict and at the same time peculiar, unique. The building would definitely be flying, aiming at the sky.

Then the old man took us to some kind of cathedral. We could hear our footsteps somewhere ahead of us, and the echo diligently duplicated our voices, as if responding to us from somewhere under the dome. Excellent sculptures were looking at us, but the guide kept leading us forward, not letting us stop.
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“The World Was Saved By The Soviet Soldier” interactive project

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“The World Was Saved By The Soviet Soldier” is an interactive project that was launched back in 2021 by the “Immortal Regiment” portal.

“As of late, more and more publications, the authors of which reshape historical events of the Second World War, appear in foreign media. We must not forget our common history and must stand together against all attempts to rewrite it. One can only resist with reasoned truth.

Videos created for the project are meant to depict how Europe was liberated from fascism.”

All film-related materials translated by Putinger’s Cat. We present the 30 episodes in the rough chronological order of the events.

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CHINA

China was attacked by Japan even before the official beginning of WWII, with the war raging between July 7, 1937 and September 9, 1945.


Backup at Rumble
Raw video on YouTube

POLAND (Part 1)

World War II began on September 1st, 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland. After the Red Army liberated Poland in 1945, the Soviet Union took an active part in bringing Poland back from ruin.


Backup at Rumble
Raw video on YouTube

Read also:

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“Их традиции” – Илья Эренбург, 1944

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Илья Эренбург был военным корреспондентом и публицистом, и его слова стали одним из самых мощных интеллектуальных орудий в борьбе с нацизмом. Его тексты укрепляли волю к сопротивлению, вселяли надежду и формировали нравственное самосознание того времени. Его вклад в победу до сих пор считается неотъемлемой частью исторического и культурного наследия.

Казалось бы, все статьи, написанные Ильей Эренбургом, должны быть известны и описаны. Действительно, на сайте Военной Литературы есть хронологический список его произведений военного времени.

И все же в датском издании произведений Ильи Эренбурга от 1944 года мы наткнулись на название, которого не было в списке. Да и основной текст (переведенный с датского на русский) не появился бы ни в одной антологии. Мыыпедставляем вашему вниманию: “Их традиции”, переведенные с датского обратно на русский.

По-фашистки – “победитель”, а по-нашему – грабитель
Карикатура Дмитрия Моора на военную тематику, одна из многих, представленных на цифровой выставке библиотеки имени Некрасова “Художники победы”.

Их традиции

Передо мной письмо, написанное лейтенантом Рудольфом Шакертом. Посмотрите, что хочет сказать этот немецкий офицер, который находится в госпитале за линией фронта:

“Ты поймешь меня, дорогой Эрнст, моё сердце вот-вот разорвется. Пока ты сидел на крайнем севере, я сражался за Крым. Там погибли мои лучшие друзья. Со школьных лет мы помним, что земля, которая пила немецкую кровь, – это немецкая земля, но, по-видимому, Крым скоро будет эвакуирован. Ханс Тильт говорит только об одном — он не может вынести эвакуации Житомира. Я утешаю себя одним: мы завоевали эти земли своей кровью, кровью лучших, и даже если из-за предательских действий плутократов мы проиграем эту войну, Германия никогда не забудет, что ее дети были на Украине и в Севастополе. Волгу можно назвать походом, но Украина и Крым – это завоевания. Если я пройду через это, я расскажу Отто о садах Крыма, и он будет мечтать о том времени, когда вырастет и сможет вернуть утраченное. У меня такое чувство, что началась столетняя война; возможно, будут паузы, но мы добьемся своего…”

Я прошу читателей задуматься над письмом Шакерта. Он не одинок в мечтах о новых войнах: таких немцев много. Недостаточно того, что мы прогоним немцев. Мы также должны отправиться в Германию. Это необходимо для судьбы будущих поколений. Мы должны отучить немцев от многого — и этого не добьёшься проповедями и речами.
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“Their Traditions” – By Ilya Ehrenburg, 1944

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Ilya Ehrenburg, as a war correspondent and publicist, his words became one of the most powerful intellectual weapons in the fight against Nazism. His texts strengthened the will to resist, gave hope, and shaped the moral self-understanding of the time. His contribution to the victory is still considered an indispensable part of the historical and cultural heritage.

It would seem that all the articles, written by Ilya Ehrenburg would be known and annotated. Indeed, there is a chronological list of his War-time works at the Military Literature site.

And yet, in a Danish edition of Ilya Ehrenburg’s works from 1944 we came across a title, not listed anywhere. Nor would the body of the text (translated to Russian) would come up in any anthologies. so here it is: “Their Traditions”, translated by BATS to English from Danish, and first published at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”. In the next post we will also re-translate the publication back to Russian, to bring back this lost, but found article.

In fascist-speak it’s ‘a victor’, while in ours, it’s ‘a robber’
A War-time caricature by Dmitry Moor, one of many on display at the digital exhibition of the Nekrasov library, “The Artists of Victory”.

Their Traditions

In front of me is a letter written by Lieutenant Rudolf Schackert. See here what this German officer, who is in a hospital behind the front, has to say:

“You will understand me, dear Ernst, my heart is about to burst. While you were sitting in the high north, I was fighting for the Crimea. My best friends were killed there. We remember from school days that land that has drunk German blood is German land, but apparently the Crimea will soon be evacuated. Hans Tilt speaks of only one thing — he cannot bear the evacuation of Zhitomir. I console myself with one thing: we have claimed these lands with our blood, the blood of the best, and even if the treacherous actions of the plutocrats should cause us to lose this war, Germany will never forget that her children were in Ukraine and Sevastopol. The Volga can be described as a campaign, but Ukraine and Crimea are conquests. If I get through it, I’ll tell Otto about the gardens of Crimea, and he will dream of the time when he grows up and can win back what was lost. I have a feeling that a 100 Years’ War has begun; there’ll probably be pauses, but we’ll get there…”

I ask readers to think about Schackert’s letter. He’s not alone in dreaming of new wars: there are many such Germans. It is not enough that we chase the Germans out. We must also go to Germany. It is necessary for the fate of future generations. We must wean the Germans off a lot — and that will not be achieved with sermons and speeches.
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The anniversary of Ilya Ehrenburg

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135 years ago, on January 26, 1891, the Russian and Soviet poet Ilya Ehrenburg was born. We translated at out Telegram channel a commemorative post by the Russian Embassy in Germany.

Ilya Ehrenburg among army newspaper staff, August 1, 1943. Photo by Sergey Loskutov

🖋 Ilya Ehrenburg has gone down in Russian and Soviet history as a writer, poet, journalist, war reporter, and photographer. His words became one of the most powerful weapons in the fight against Nazism. His contribution to the victory is rightly considered an inseparable part of the heroic heritage of our people.

🖋 Ehrenburg was born in Kiev in 1891 and spent part of his youth between Russia and Europe. He lived, among other places, in Paris and Berlin, where he exchanged ideas with artists and writers of European modernism.

🖋 As a writer, Ehrenburg created novels, essays, and memoirs that became important testimonies of their era. Works such as “The Unusual Adventures of Julio Jurenito,” which paints a multifaceted, mosaic-like picture of life in Europe and Russia during the First World War and the Revolution, or his autobiographical memoirs “People, Years, Life” combine literary form with political analysis and personal experience.

🖋 Particularly influential was Ehrenburg’s role during the Second World War. As a war correspondent and publicist, his words became one of the most powerful intellectual weapons in the fight against Nazism. His texts strengthened the will to resist, gave hope, and shaped the moral self-understanding of the time. His contribution to the victory is still considered an indispensable part of the historical and cultural heritage.

🖋 After the war, Ehrenburg advocated for understanding, peace, and cultural dialogue. He was a voice against antisemitism, against new enemy images, and for the right to remember. Of particular significance was the “Black Book” about the genocide of Soviet Jews, which he co-edited with Vasily Grossman and was the first major documentation of the Shoah.

🖋 In 1954, Ehrenburg also wrote the story “Thaw,” which was published in the magazine “Znamya” and gave its name to an entire era of Soviet history.

Debunking the myth that “The West industrialised the USSR”

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“The West industrialised the USSR” – another propaganda slogan that confuses trade with exploitation. Russian Baza Telegram channel scrutinises it and breaks it down.

Concessions had nothing to do with Stalin’s industrialisation!

👉 Concessions were deals where foreign companies came into the USSR, used its resources, like fish, forests, and gold, made big money, and gave the country almost nothing in return.

Foreign concessions were a product of the New economic Policy (NEP) era of the early-to-mid 1920s, under Lenin.

But when Stalin came to power and recognised them for what they were – legalised looting – he shut them down fast.

By 1931, nearly all foreign concessions were terminated or nationalised.

Because they were predatory, unprofitable, and violated national sovereignty.

Still think it wasn’t legalised looting? Take a look:

‼️ Fishing concessions – Foreign companies fished in Soviet waters, exported the catch, and kept up to 85% of the profits. The USSR got scraps in return.

‼️Timber deals – Western firms were given access to vast Russian forests. They clear-cut massive areas, caused environmental damage, and left behind only token fixed payments.

‼️Lena Goldfields concession – A British company ran gold mines in Siberia, made millions, and treated Soviet workers as cheap, expendable labour.

‼️Oil concessions – Foreign companies were allowed to drill and export Soviet oil with little oversight, often paying far less than market value while shipping profits abroad.

‼️Mining rights in the Urals and Central Asia – Western firms extracted coal, copper, and rare metals under contracts that gave them near-complete control of operations and revenue. Local workers endured the risks; foreigners took the profits.

By the early 1930s, Stalin had seen enough – most were shut down or nationalised.

Stalin’s industrialisation was built through trade, not concessions.

In the 1930s, the USSR bought what it needed: Equipment, designs, factory blueprints from the U.S. (Ford, Albert Kahn), Germany, Britain, Italy, and others. It paid in gold, grain, and hard currency.

These were strict commercial contracts, not Western gifts.

No one “helped” the USSR. It paid dearly, often for outdated or overpriced tech.
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