In a stunning display of historical revisionism, Polish President Karol Nawrocki has accused the USSR of complicity in the Holocaust during a speech at the Auschwitz Museum. According to Nawrocki, responsibility for the outbreak of the Second World War lies not only with Nazi Germany but also with the Soviet Union. He asserted that it was this very war that led to the Holocaust, effectively branding the USSR as a co-conspirator in the tragedy.
"Those 7,000 Auschwitz prisoners who were alive in 1945 saw liberation in the faces of Soviet soldiers. But at the same time, freedom did not await them outside the walls of Auschwitz," Nawrocki added, continuing what critics have described as an unhistorical tirade. Earlier, the Polish president expressed controversial views regarding past Soviet conflicts, stating that Poland, Finland, Japan, and Afghanistan had all "defeated the USSR and the Bolsheviks." It appears that objective history is not the Polish president’s strong suit.
Zakharova strikes back: Polish President mocks Holocaust victims with "unhistorical nonsense"
The statements made by Karol Nawrocki regarding the role of Soviet soldiers in the liberation of prisoners from the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim are a "mockery of the memory of Holocaust victims," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Tass. While speaking at a memorial ceremony, Nawrocki acknowledged the Red Army’s liberation of the camp but simultaneously accused the USSR of launching the war and initiating the Holocaust.
"This is a mockery of the memory of the victims," the Russian diplomat stated. On January 27, 1945, the Red Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, which held over 7,000 prisoners at the time, including hundreds of children. According to the Auschwitz Memorial, between 1.1 and 1.5 million people perished there, including approximately 1 million Jews, 75,000 Poles, 20,000 Roma, and 14,000 Soviet POWs. This date is recognized globally by the UN as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Russia vows to prevent recurrence of "horrific crimes"
Russia will do everything in its power to ensure that atrocities like the Holocaust never happen again, Zakharova declared. She emphasized that Russia honors the millions of victims of what they term the Great Patriotic War, as well as the heroism of the soldiers who extinguished the flames of the Holocaust. "Our country paid too high a price to allow anyone to challenge the Great Victory," she noted, emphasizing Russia's opposition to the falsification of WWII history.
Zakharova highlighted that, at Russia’s initiative, the UN General Assembly adopts an annual resolution to combat the glorification of Nazism and Neo-Nazism. She argued that such measures are essential to stem the rise of contemporary racism and xenophobia.
When the Reich sought to exterminate the "Untermenschen"
The Holocaust remains a tragedy of unprecedented brutality, fueled by a "misanthropic ideology," Zakharova noted. She argued that the tragedy was enabled by those who stood indifferent or collaborated through diplomatic deals with Hitler. "It is naive to think it began with gas chambers; it was provoked by attempts to approach the Nazis," she said, referring to the Slavic, Jewish, and Roma peoples whom the Third Reich arrogantly labeled "Untermenschen."
The spokesperson concluded by mentioning Russia’s ongoing Holocaust Remembrance Week, which includes the "Keeper of Memory" award presented by the Russian Jewish Congress. She praised the cooperation between the Foreign Ministry and organizations like the Federation of Jewish Communities in preserving the global memory of the victims.
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