Poisoned feather. Too many Germanic letters (part of 2)
Residents of the village next to the hanged Zoya Kosmodemyanskoy.
A terrific story about a girl Tanya (Zoe Kosmodemyanskaya) and a photograph in which she lies in the snow with a noose around her neck - albeit cynically so to say - just a rare success for a propagandist. It was necessary to turn this photo into huge billboards (posters on the sides of roads and on city streets) and write on them: “Tanya gave her life for the Motherland. What are you ready for the Motherland ?! ”or just“ Do not forget, do not forgive! ”- and so everything is clear. But for some reason this was not done by the “tip” of the newspaper ...
That photo ...
At the same time, reports of the Nazi abuse of civilians [1] and Soviet prisoners of war [2] appeared in the newspapers in the very first days of the war. But here, too, there is quite clearly a lack of deep understanding of the problem. So, for example, in all publications that reported on the bullying of German fascists over Soviet prisoners of war, they are captured while being wounded! “Sergeant I. Karasev, who escaped from the German captivity ... witnessed the massacre of wounded prisoners of the Red Army ...” [3] - such articles were printed one after another. However, if you unconditionally believe the newspapers, it turned out that the healthy and full of strength the Red Army fighters were not captured, but found themselves in captivity only after they were seriously injured. But even in this state, they immediately fled from captivity, as did, for example, the seriously wounded Red Army soldier Fesenko, captured by the Germans on the bank of the somehow nameless “River P” [4]. Meanwhile, writing about the prisoners of the Red Army, on the basis of the fact that "the Red Army soldiers did not surrender in captivity," was not followed at all. Do not give up and everything! We should not have placed in the newspaper data on the number of our prisoners. Like, the Germans write their 3,5 million, and in fact just 500 thousands. But even this figure at the time looked just monstrous.
Very little was also published on the release of former Red Army soldiers from captivity. But they were. For example, in 1943, in the Sovinformburo reports, only two messages appeared about the release of our soldiers from German bondage [5]. In 1945, the press mentioned former Soviet soldiers returning from German captivity, only in passing, in articles about the release, and all other prisoners of Hitlerite camps [6]. Much more attention was paid to the fate of Soviet citizens hijacked to work in Germany [7]. But no one interviewed them or even tried to arouse hatred of fascism with a story about the heavy share of our soldiers in German captivity, although during the First World War similar materials in the Russian periodicals were printed all the time, often with photos. Why was the worthy experience of the past not used now?
The Soviet press reported about military operations abroad dryly and passionlessly, without adding any emotion to the content of the articles [8], since who would win there was not clear. But the actions of the local partisans were reported quite differently [9], and it was emphasized that anti-fascist uprisings [10] were constantly breaking out in the Nazi-occupied countries of Western Europe. The newspapers wrote that all strata of the population, including the intelligentsia [11], and even foreign workers who worked in enterprises in Germany, were trying to contribute to the victory over fascism [12].
As already noted, in the early years of the war, the priorities of the Soviet press were the stabilization of the moral climate in Soviet society and the strengthening of the conviction of the civilian population in the early victory of the Red Army over the enemy. To achieve the desired effect, the Soviet press used a wide variety of techniques, including a very primitive property. So, in the reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, which were printed on the front pages in the central newspapers, statements of German soldiers appeared at the very beginning of the war, surrendered in the first hours of military operations against the USSR. Thus, the former soldier Alfred Liskoff, whose appeal to the German soldiers was published by all Soviet newspapers [13], almost became the “protagonist” of the Soviet national newspapers in the first days of the war. It was possible to learn from him that “the German people are waiting for peace,” the German army does not want to fight the USSR, and only “the officer’s stick, the threat of execution forces the German soldier to fight, but he does not want this war, he longs for peace, as he longs for peace all German people. " Further, the Soviet press published appeals and other soldiers of the German army who voluntarily surrendered in the first days of the war. Thus, voluntarily ending the war and surrendering was advised by the crew of the pilots of the German Army Hans Hermann, Hans Kratz, Adolf Appel and Wilhelm Schmidt [14]. And then in the messages of the Soviet Information Bureau began to regularly appear messages about German soldiers and their allies who voluntarily surrendered to the soldiers of the Red Army [15]. They all unanimously declared that they didn’t want to fight, that “war tired” [16], “the war provoked by Hitler brings to all the peoples of Europe, including the German people, only misfortune and death” [17]. In the troops of the Nazi allies, judging by the materials of Soviet newspapers, soldiers were beaten with steel whips and chained to machine guns to force them to shoot, but they still didn’t shoot a single bullet at the Red Army troops [18], while the Germans themselves tried drop bombs in such a way that “they do no harm” [19].
In support of these materials, the Soviet press began, from the very first days of the war, to publish letters of German soldiers killed or wounded during the hostilities. These materials, as well as publications about the military operations of our army, had to convince the population of the quick victory of our people over the fascist invaders and create a bright and expressive image of the enemy. Of these, Soviet citizens learned that defeatism [20] reigned in the enemy’s army. Such a well-established military machine in the battles with all of Europe as the German army, judging by the publications of Soviet newspapers, was characterized by such deep flaws as the lack of military discipline, weakness and cowardice of the military [21], fear of military hardship and deprivation [22], failures food supply [23], and the moral climate among German soldiers was depressing [24].
The letters painted vivid pictures of the hopelessness and despair of the soldiers of the German army, who encountered in the battle with such an unbeatable enemy as the Red Army was. So, from the very first days of the war, the Germans realized that “the Red Army is armed with equipment that is in no way inferior to ours” [25], “the Russians are better and more reliably dressed up for the winter ... They bear the difficulties of campaigns better ... The commanders are brave and have more experience” [26 ], and the servicemen of the German army without tanks “Not soldiers, but some shy rabbits” [27]. Judging by the letters home, German soldiers often had to starve and experience other hardships and deprivations of camp life [28]. In reality, the soldiers of the German army sent letters home of a completely different content and character [29]. Brought up by the German propaganda system on a sense of racial superiority, German soldiers treated the population of the USSR as a tribe of "subhuman" and, accordingly, wrote about this to their relatives and friends [30]. That is what is possible, and it was necessary to tell the readers of Pravda. So that they know that it’s not with the “fearful rabbits” that they have to fight, but with people who just don’t consider them to be people and bring them death, destruction and slavery worse than they were in Ancient Rome.
In the 1943 year after the decisive Stalingrad battle, the pessimism of the letters of the German military in Soviet newspapers increased even more [31]. The soldiers of the German army were simply driven to despair, and were forced to eat dogs and cats [32]. But it is unlikely that such letters would be missed by the German postal censorship. And then the question is - why did they write them then? And after all, everyone knew that we have censorship and should be with the Germans. And then suddenly such letters ... But what about the German Gestapo then?
Interestingly, the analysis of the frequency of these materials allows us to conclude that the peak of the publication of letters from German soldiers in the Soviet press fell on 1941-1942, i.e. for the most difficult period for our army. In 1943, the letters of the Germans were printed less and less, and at the end of the war they disappeared from the pages of the Soviet press altogether, giving way to oral testimony by captured soldiers of the German army.
In addition to the letters of German soldiers, letters of the German civilian population to their families and friends fighting on the Eastern Front were also published. The impression from them is that there was no military censorship in Germany, let alone the Gestapo, at all! Reading them, Soviet citizens could see how hard life was in Germany, and, therefore, to conclude that the collapse of the Hitlerite military machine should happen very quickly. And how could it be otherwise, if the civilian population [33] of Germany suffered from cold and hunger, and “various diseases are rampant among children” [34]. From 1943 onwards, news of the consequences of the bombings began to appear in the letters of the German civilian population (this is nonsense, no military censorship would have simply missed it, especially German, and smart people understood this, of course!) By British Air Force planes [35] . Here again, it should be said that such publications were popular in the Soviet press only in the first years of the Great Patriotic War, and in 1944-1945. on the pages of Soviet newspapers, they almost never appeared.
In addition to reports of the dismal state of the German workers and peasants [36] and the defeatist attitudes among the civilian population [37], it was reported that their food supply “is becoming threateningly bad. Half-starved rations are reduced every month ... In the cities, cases of scaling disease have become more frequent ”[38], and“ signs of real decay are found in German industry ”[39],“ terrible fatigue reigns everywhere ”[40]. Again, when writing such materials, you should look very carefully at the time. And keep in mind when this or that event happens. It was obvious that victory would not be soon. Otherwise, people will say - "they said fatigue, but they all fight and fight." And it will be like from the “world revolution”, which was written about both in the 20s and even in the 30s, but it didn’t come at all.
By the way, were there examples of successful foresight at that time? That is correctly disseminated information! Yes they were!!! But not in the newspapers, but in the movies. In 1943, the director Pyryev began making the film “Moscow's Daughter”, which was released on 1944 in films entitled “At six o'clock in the evening after the war”. And there the forecast for victory was voiced very accurately. The person thought, maybe he consulted with the experts, and gave an amazing means of mass exposure to the audience, a very lyrical and optimistic, brightening expectation and its hardship, with a wonderful ending. That is, some people could do it ...
1. News. July 17, 1941. No. 167. C.1; Nazi atrocities in Brest and Minsk // Izvestia. August 10, 1941. No. 188. C.1; The face of the Nazi army // Izvestia. August 31, 1941. No. 206. C.3; Curse // Truth. January 10, 1942. No. 10. C.3; The monstrous atrocities of the Nazi robbers // Pravda. January 23, 1942. No. 23. C.3; Fascist robbery in Ukraine // Pravda. March 21, 1942. No. 80. C.3; German atrocities in the Maikop oilfields // Pravda. February 11, 1943. No. 42. C.3; Bloody atrocities of the Nazis in the village of Alekseevka, Stalingrad region // Pravda. March 17, 1943. No. 73. C.3; The management of the Nazis in Estonia // Pravda. March 1, 1943. No. 60. C.4; On the mass forcible removal of peaceful Soviet citizens into Nazi slavery and on the responsibility for this crime of the German authorities and individuals exploiting the forced labor of Soviet citizens in Germany // Pravda. May 12, 1943. No. 121. C.1; In German slavery // Pravda. May 30, 1943. No. 137. C.3; Terror and robberies of the Nazis in Estonia // Pravda. February 9, 1944. No. 34. C.4
2. News. August 4, 1941. No. 183. C.1; News. September 11, 1941. No. 215. C.2; Bullying of the Nazis over Soviet prisoners of war in Norway // Pravda. January 3, 1942. No. 3. C.4; German brutal treatment of Soviet prisoners of war // Pravda. January 10, 1942. No. 10. C.4; Fascist scoundrels burn captured Red Army soldiers // Pravda. January 13, 1942. No. 13. C.3; Bullying of Soviet prisoners of war in Finland // Pravda. January 14, 1942. No. 14. C.4; The monstrous bullying of the Nazis over the captured Red Army soldiers in Norway // Pravda. February 13, 1942. No. 44. C.4; Bullying of Soviet prisoners of war in Romania // Pravda. January 18, 1942. No. 49. C.4; The reprisals of the Nazis with Soviet prisoners of war in Norway // Pravda. March 4, 1942. No. 63. C.4; The atrocity of the Finnish-fascist executioners // Pravda. August 29, 1942. No. 241. C.4; Is it true. January 3, 1943. No. 3. C.3; German brutal treatment of Soviet prisoners of war // Pravda. January 29, 1943. No. 29. C.4; Is it true. March 26, 1943. No. 81. C.2; Is it true. June 30, 1943. No. 163. C.1; Hitlerites shoot Soviet prisoners of war // Pravda. February 10, 1944. No. 35. C.4; The atrocities of the Germans in the concentration camp in Pruszkow // Pravda. January 26, 1945. No. 22. C.4;
3. From the Soviet Information Bureau // Stalin's Banner. July 12, 1941. No. 162. C.1
4. Stalin's Banner. July 27, 1941. No. 175. C.1
5. True. January 14, 1943. No. 14. C.3; Is it true. August 4, 1943. No. 193. C.1
6. From German captivity // Pravda. March 5, 1945. No. 55. C.3;
7. True. February 23, 1943. No. 54. C.2; Is it true. March 12, 1943. No. 69. C.1; Is it true. May 14, 1943. No. 123. C.1; Is it true. May 14, 1943. No. 123. C.1; Is it true. May 22, 1943. No. 130. C.1; Is it true. June 17, 1943. No. 152. C.1; Is it true. August 16, 1943. No. 204. C.1; Is it true. March 9, 1944. No. 59. C.4; Forcibly driven away Soviet people do not submit to Hitler's monsters // Pravda. March 16, 1944. No. 65. C.4; Soviet citizens return from Romanian captivity // Pravda. October 19, 1944. No. 251. C.4
8. See, for example: Stalin's Banner. January 12, 1941. No. 10. C.4; Stalin Banner. January 14, 1941. No. 11. C.4; Stalin Banner. January 15, 1941. No. 12. C.4; Stalin Banner. January 16, 1941. No. 13. C.4
9. Europe in the fight against Hitler // Pravda. January 19, 1943. No. 19. C.4; The partisan movement is a serious threat to the rear of the Nazi army // Pravda. July 8, 1943. No. 170. C.4
10. Yugoslav peasants sabotage the activities of the occupiers // Pravda. July 9, 1943. No. 171. C.4; Anti-German demonstrations in Denmark // Pravda. July 21, 1943. No. 181. C.4; Anti-Hitler demonstrations in Copenhagen // Pravda. July 18, 1943. No. 178. C.4; Anti-German speeches in Lyon // Pravda. August 20, 1943. No. 207. C.4; Armed clash between the population of the city of Iasi and the German troops // Pravda. March 4, 1944. No. 55. C.4
11. The intelligentsia of the occupied countries in the fight against Hitlerism // Pravda. November 29, 1943. No. 294. C.4
12. True. May 15, 1943. No. 124. C.1; Is it true. May 21, 1943. No. 129. C.1; Sabotage of foreign workers in Germany // Pravda. March 2, 1944. No. 53. C.4; Mass exodus of foreign workers from German enterprises // Pravda. March 4, 1944. No. 55. C.4; Mass exodus of foreign workers from camps in Germany // Pravda. March 17, 1944. No. 93. C.4;
13. News. June 27, 1941. No. 150. C.1; The story of the German soldier Alfred Liskof // Izvestia. June 27, 1941. No. 150. C.2; Stalin Banner. June 27, 1941. No. 149. P.1
14. Stalinist Banner. June 29, 1941. No. 151. P.1
15. News. June 29, 1941. No. 152. C.1; News. July 20, 1941. No. 171. C.1; News. August 21, 1941. No. 200. C.2; Is it true. July 15, 1943. No. 176. C.3; Is it true. January 2, 1944. No. 2. C.1
16. News. June 26, 1941. No. 149. C.1
17. Stalinist Banner. June 29, 1941. No. 151. P.1
18. News. July 29, 1941. No. 177. C.1
19. Stalinist Banner. June 29, 1941. No. 151. P.1
20. News. August 5, 1941. No. 184. C.1
21. Ibid. August 19, 1941. No. 195. C.1
22. True. January 1, 1942. No. 1. C.1
23. News. August 16, 1941. No. 193. C.1; Is it true. February 19, 1942. No. 50. C.1; Is it true. March 1, 1942. No. 67. C.1
24. Testimony of the dead // Truth. January 12, 1942. No. 12. C.2; Is it true. January 20, 1942. No. 20. C.1; Reflections of a German soldier // Pravda. April 22, 1942. No. 112. C.3
25. News. August 5, 1941. No. 184. C.1
26. True. March 14, 1942. No. 73. C.1
27. News. August 19, 1941. No. 195. C.1
28. The dull howl of the Nazi-German newspaper // Pravda. January 11, 1942. No. 11. C.4; Is it true. March 8, 1942. No. 67. C.1
29. On both sides of the front. Letters from Soviet and German soldiers 1941-1945. M., 1995.
30. Ibid. C.202
31. True. January 10, 1943. No. 14. C.3; Is it true. February 7, 1943. No. 38. C.3; Is it true. May 10, 1943. No. 120. C.3
32. True. January 31, 1943. No. 31. C.3
33. True. January 21, 1942. No. 21. C.1; Is it true. May 26, 1943. No. 133. C.1; Is it true. July 7, 1943. No. 169. C.1
34. Ibid. January 12, 1942. No. 12. C.2
35. Ibid. May 29, 1943. No. 136. C.1; Is it true. June 5, 1943. No. 142. C.3; Is it true. June 25, 1943. No. 159. C.1
36. The situation of the peasants in Nazi Germany // Izvestia. July 12, 1941. No. 163. C.3; Growth of diseases in Germany // Pravda. February 15, 1942. No. 46. C.4; Typhoid epidemic in Germany // Pravda. February 27, 1943. No. 27. C.4; Evacuation of German cities // Pravda. August 19, 1943. No. 203. C.4
37. Fatigue, apathy, the only desire is peace. Swedish newspaper about the mood in Berlin // Izvestia. August 14, 1941. No. 218. C.4; Depressed mood in Germany // Izvestia. August 8, 1941. No. 186. C.3; There are many pessimists in Germany // Pravda. February 22, 1942. No. 53. C.4; Sadly in the German rear // Pravda. March 11, 1942. No. 70. C.4;
38. The population of Germany on the eve of the third military winter // Izvestia. September 5, 1941. No. 210. C.4
39. The situation in Germany // True. January 9, 1944. No. 11. C.4
40. Swiss seal on the situation in Germany. // Is it true. April 16, 1944. No. 92. C.4
To be continued ...
Information