War Mongrels - War Diaries - Part 2

War Diaries Part 2 “Myths about the Red Army” A lot of myths have accumulated around the Red Army over the years. Some deviate from the truth only slightly. Others are post-war propaganda and have nothing to do with reality. Especially in the West, Red Army soldiers have a bad reputation reinforced by images shown in pop culture. But were they really as bad and disorganised as we tend to believe today? The Red Army is most often thought of in the context of a huge mass of human life sacrificed without reflection and often without purpose.

00:47 - In the collective consciousness, a Soviet soldier is someone whose life was not taken into account. Like hundreds of thousands of pieces of cannon fodder, blindly thrown by ruthless incompetent and usually alcohol-abusing commanders. A worthless jumble of random people forced into the army, terribly equipped and technologically lagging behind German troops. We are often presented with the myth of officers standing at the back of the front shooting their own people in the back, those who decided to escape from the battlefield following the instinct to defend their own lives. Even the image of a Russian soldier leaves no doubt.

01:25 - People used to think of the Red Army soldiers as crude smelly savages, ruthless sociopaths and rapists who enjoyed torturing others. A Red Army soldier is usually drunk with cheap smelly moonshine and soaking in the blood of innocent people from the villages that came in his way. It is also worth mentioning that among many myths about the Red Army, there are also such which glorify it, particularly widespread in the countries of the former Eastern Block, with emphasis of course on the Russian Federation itself. For them the Red Army is still synonymous with words such as “hero” - virtuous honorable nation’s savior. In this case the Red Army is an endless sea of proud smiling and brave liberators, who, while marching towards Berlin, carried freedom, joy and respite to the liberated lands.

02:14 - Of course later, as a sign of gratitude, liberated people erected numerous monuments to them. The truth usually lies in between and myths always have their origin in reality. The Red Army consisted primarily of young boys and adult men, poorly trained, often actually going to face certain death. Yet contrary to popular belief it was death at the hands of the enemy, not the soldiers who stood at the back of the front firing at Red Army soldiers fleeing the battlefield. In 1942, at a later stage of the war, Stalin actually issued the famous order: “Not a step back!” Pursuant to this order, special units were created to ensure that no soldier escaped from the battlefield.

03:01 - However, their task was never to eliminate deserters Most often escapees were forced to return to the front. Being terrified and lost, they died quickly. Admittedly, in extreme cases those special units could go as far as liquidating soldiers, but such a solution was hardly used. During the war pragmatism reigned among the USSR troops. If the deserter was not sent back to the front, he landed in a labor camp where he served as cheap labor force.

03:32 - It’s also worth asking the question: “Was the Red Army really as badly armed and as badly organized as we tend to think?” It turns out that it wasn’t so bad. Admittedly, at the beginning of the war in 1941 as a result of operation Barbarossa, the Red Army suffered huge losses in equipment, mainly in heavy weapons but there was never a shortage of small arms. In addition, the United Kingdom initially supported its allies, as much as they could. And then, in the second half of 1942, the United States offered their support. Thus trucks with American markings appeared in the USSR.

04:14 - Sometimes, curious Red Army soldiers were told that Soviet weapons were exported to the States, although in reality it was exactly the opposite. Hence the Soviet propaganda twisted the image in its own way. And the West, separated from the Russian propaganda by the iron curtain, did not have access to the truth and could not know the actual image of the Red Army. The Russian’s version was almost automatically rejected as hypocritical and propaganda, but the alternative image was divergent from reality and historical truth. Therefore the basic source of information was from the German viewpoint, which, like the Soviet one, was far from the truth.

04:57 - And this is how the image of the Red Army soldier was established in the eyes of the Western world: a poorly armed drunken savage. Cannon fodder. Of course the Russian version also raises considerable and undoubtedly legitimate doubts. The Red Army was also far from brave, joyful, honorable and the righteous liberators from Soviet propaganda cards. They were not the heroes who carried hope and who bravely expelled the Nazis from the occupied lands. Crimes took place, which were then carefully hidden for years. The Red Army soldiers are not noble proud liberators. Moreover, tortures which deprive their victims of dignity and humanity, the endless plague of violent rapes and mass exterminations are a fact. Anyway, even shooting in the back or the back of the head took place, although of course it was not the Red Army soldiers escaping from the front. In the forests of Eastern Europe one can find many testimonies of cruelty and senseless murders of civilians, intelligentsia and people who knew too much. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the truth slowly came to light.

06:09 - The Russians could no longer comfortably blame the Germans for their crimes. The historical narrative likes extremes. The center and thus the gist, which is closest to the truth, is often overlooked. That is why the myths about the Red Army are so common today. And although there is a bit of truth in every myth, one should not judge any part of any conflict on their bases. After all, history is written by the victors. .