A Munich historian warns German memory long equated Soviet wartime victims with Russia, sidelining Ukraine and Belarus, and urges a multidimensional reckoning.
Until February 24, 2022, in German society and politics, Soviet victims of World War II were almost entirely equated with Russia, while Ukraine and Belarus – the main theaters of the Nazi war and the Holocaust – were marginalized.
This was stated by Francesca Davis, an associate professor in the Department of History of Eastern and Central-Eastern Europe at the University of Munich, during an interview.
A View of Memory in Germany
Until February 24, 2022, in German perception, Soviet victims of World War II were almost entirely equated with Russia. Moreover, there was an absurd situation where, in politics and society, it was a widespread practice to justify refusing to supply weapons by a special responsibility to Russia due to World War II. To legitimate this by World War II itself and by the responsibility to Russia is essentially to reduce the lessons of World War II to absurdity
– Francesca Davis
Davis explained that Ukraine and Belarus, which were completely occupied and became the main arenas of both the occupation war and the Holocaust, for a long time were pushed to the periphery in German memory culture. This, she said, is connected not only with a misinterpretation of World War II lessons, but also with a deeper “colonial complicity” – a tradition of joint imperial actions by Germany and Russia at the expense of Central and Eastern European countries, dating back to the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 18th century and reaching a bloody climax in the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939.
In their actions, there are signs of criminal offenses under Article 345 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Threats or violence against a law enforcement officer” and Article 194 “Deliberate destruction or damage to property.” The relevant notices were sent to the National Police
– press service
According to Davis, this dimension continues to play a relatively minor role in Germany, but there is growing awareness that Ukraine was the main arena of events and a victim not only of Germany but also of the Soviet Union. However, this old thinking has not disappeared, and it is necessary to view memory as a multidimensional process that takes into account radically different histories of the Central and Eastern European countries.
More about this can be learned from the full interview.