The most recent episode this morning got me thinking about this again. The Red Army is so villainized in most historical texts on WWII, it infuriates me to no end. Why is it only when the Soviets commit atrocities during war time that it gets brought up? So many history books on the Eastern Theater have almost Nazi like view points, stating that Soviet civilians suffered just as much when the Red Army liberated them, than they did under Nazi occupation. These claims range anywhere from confiscation of food and supplies from liberated villages, to straight up rape and murder. Did some of these allegations happen? No doubt. I won’t sit here and defend every thing the Red Army did. But it gets so grossly exaggerated and brought up so much in comparison to the Western Allies in France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Japan and the South Pacific islands. It is an absolute tragedy when innocent civilians on any side of a conflict suffer at the hands of any military force. I just hate how the West paints itself as liberators and the force of “good” and “justice” when we were perpetrating the exact same acts of violence as the Red Army. Also, to generalize the entirety of the Red Army as evil rapists, murderers and pillagers, is doing them as a whole a disservice. There are always going to be those in times of war that commit such acts, but there are also a large portion of the military who DON’T participate in such things. I know it’s the Western Cold War Era propaganda that blows all of this out of proportion, but it’s infuriating nonetheless. Most WWII documentaries and books have been ruined for me as soon as they start to claim the Red Army was as evil as the Nazis. David Glantz in When Titans Clashed might have one of the only unbiased and non-propagandized views on what actually happened on the Eastern Front. Anyone interested in WWII history, specifically regarding the Eastern Theater, I would definitely recommend Glantz’ books. Thanks for letting me rant, Comrades. 🫡