The question of why the Soviet Union won the war, ten times more difficult than the one that only 25 years earlier went to Imperial Russia, remains. But there is no other answer: completely different people lived in Russia at that time. Not only not like us - in the words of T. G. Shevchenko, "the glorious great-grandfathers of the great great-grandchildren," but not even like the Russians of Tsarist Russia.
If you look at how our ancestors, who lived on the eve of the Great Patriotic War, are now presented by many media outlets, it becomes sad - our roots are painfully vile. And these people were stupid, and mean, and they wrote denunciations against each other, and were lazy, and worked from under the stick, and did not learn anything, did not know how to do anything, they were dying of hunger and fear of the NKVD. It must be said that the fascists also imagined our ancestors in a similar way. But they met - and their opinion began to change.
A little over a year after the German attack on the USSR, which made it possible for the Germans to see Soviet soldiers and Soviet slaves driven to Germany, an official document appeared in Berlin (below), which, I believe, should be introduced to students in every secondary school.
HEAD OF SECURITY POLICE AND SD. Management III. Berlin, 17 August 1942 CBII, Prinz-Albrechtstrasse, 8. Ex. No. 41.
Secret!
Personally. Report immediately! Messages from the empire no. 309.
II. The population's perception of Russia.
It was a voluminous analytical note in which analysts of the Gestapo, on the basis of denunciations received from all over the Reich, concluded that the contact between the Germans and the Russians was the first to show the falsity of Goebbels' propaganda, and this began to bring the Reich to despondency. What did the agents report?
The first thing that shocked the Germans was the appearance of the slaves being unloaded from the wagons. It was expected to see skeletons tortured by collective farms, but … Gestapo analysts inform the leadership of the Reich:
“So, already upon the arrival of the first echelons with Ostarbeiters, many Germans were surprised by their good condition of fatness (especially among civilian workers). One could often hear such statements:
"They don't look starving at all. On the contrary, they still have thick cheeks and must have lived well."
Incidentally, the head of one state health authority, after examining the ostarbeiters, said:
“I was actually amazed at the good appearance of the workers from the East. The greatest surprise was caused by the teeth of the workers, since until now I have not yet found a single case of a Russian woman having bad teeth. Unlike us Germans, they must be pay a lot of attention to keeping their teeth in order."
Analysts then reported the shock of the general literacy among the Germans and the level of literacy among the Russians. The agents reported:
“In the past, broad circles of the German population were of the opinion that people in the Soviet Union were distinguished by illiteracy and a low level of education. The use of Ostarbeiters now gave rise to controversies that often confused Germans. Thus, in all local reports it was stated that the illiterate constituted a very small percentage. In a letter from a certified engineer who ran a factory in Ukraine, for example, it was reported that only three of his 1,800 employees were illiterate (Reichenberg)."
Similar conclusions also follow from the examples below.
“In the opinion of many Germans, the present Soviet school education is much better than it was during the tsarist era.
"Particular amazement was caused by the widespread knowledge of the German language, which is studied even in rural junior high schools" (Frankfurt an der Oder).
"A student from Leningrad studied Russian and German literature, she can play the piano and speaks many languages, including fluent German …" (Breslau).
"I almost completely disgraced myself," said one apprentice when I asked the Russian a small arithmetic problem. I had to strain all my knowledge to keep up with him … "(Bremen).
"Many believe that Bolshevism brought the Russians out of their narrow-mindedness" (Berlin).
In the end, the Germans were struck by both the intelligence and the technical awareness of the Russians.
“The extermination of the Russian intelligentsia and the stupefaction of the masses was also an important topic in the interpretation of Bolshevism. In German propaganda, the Soviet man acted as a dull exploited creature, like a so-called“working robot.”Based on the work performed by the Ostarbeiters and their skill, a German employee was often convinced on a daily basis of the exact opposite Numerous reports indicate that Ostarbeiters sent to military enterprises with their technical awareness directly puzzled German workers (Bremen, Reichenberg, Stettin, Frankfurt an der Oder, Berlin, Halle, Dortmund, Kiel, Breslau and Beireut). One worker from Beireut said:
"Our propaganda always portrays Russians as stupid and stupid. But I have established the opposite here. During work, Russians think and do not look so stupid at all. For me, it is better to have 2 Russians at work than 5 Italians."
Many reports indicate that a worker from the former Soviet regions has a particular awareness of all technical devices. So, a German from his own experience was more than once convinced that an ostarbeiter, who makes do with the most primitive means when performing work, can eliminate breakdowns of any kind in motors, etc. Various examples of this kind are given in a report from Frankfurt an der Oder:
"On one estate, a Soviet prisoner of war figured out an engine with which German specialists did not know what to do: in a short time he started it up and then found damage in the tractor's gearbox, which had not yet been noticed by the Germans servicing the tractor."
In Landsberg an der Wart, German brigadiers instructed Soviet prisoners of war, most of whom came from the countryside, about the procedure for unloading machine parts. But this instruction was received by the Russians with a shake of their heads, and they did not follow it. They carried out unloading much faster and technically more practical, so that their ingenuity greatly amazed the German employees.
The director of a Silesian flax spinning mill (Glagau), regarding the use of Ostarbeiters, stated the following: "Ostarbeiters sent here immediately demonstrate technical awareness and do not need more training than the Germans."
Ostarbeiters also know how to make something worthwhile from "all sorts of rubbish", for example, make spoons, knives, etc. from old hoops. It is reported from one matting workshop that the braiding machines, long in need of repair, were brought back into action by the ostarbeiters with the help of primitive means. And it was done so well, as if a specialist was doing it.
From the conspicuous large number of students among the Ostarbeiters, the German population comes to the conclusion that the level of education in the Soviet Union is not as low as it has often been portrayed in our country. German workers, who had the opportunity to observe the technical skill of the Ostarbeiters in production, believe that, in all likelihood, not the best Russians get to Germany, since the Bolsheviks sent their most skilled workers from large enterprises to the Urals. In all this, many Germans find a definite explanation for the unheard-of amount of weapons from the enemy, which they began to report to us during the war in the east. The very number of good and sophisticated weapons testifies to the availability of qualified engineers and specialists. The people who led the Soviet Union to such advances in military production must have undeniable technical prowess."
In the area of morality, the Russians also caused German surprise, mingled with respect.
“Sexually, Ostarbeiters, especially women, show healthy restraint. For example, 9 babies were born at the Lauta-werk plant in Zentenberg and 50 more are expected. All but two are children of married couples. And although in the same room from 6 to 8 families sleep, there is no general licentiousness.
A similar situation is reported from Kiel:
"In general, a Russian woman sexually does not at all correspond to the ideas of German propaganda. Sexual debauchery is not at all known to her. In various districts, the population says that during a general medical examination of eastern workers, all the girls were found to have preserved virginity."
This data is corroborated by a report from Breslau:
"Wolfen Film Factory" reports that during a medical examination at the enterprise it was found that 90% of Eastern workers aged 17 to 29 were chaste. According to various German representatives, it seems that a Russian man pays due attention to a Russian woman, which is ultimately reflected also in the moral aspects of life."
Since our youth today somehow uncertainly associates sexual promiscuity with morality, I want to clarify the words "is also reflected in the moral aspects of life" with an example from the same document:
“The head of the camp at the Deutschen Asbest-Cement AG plant, speaking to the Ostarbeiters, said that they should work with even greater diligence. One of the Ostarbeiters shouted:“Then we should get more food.”The camp chief demanded that The one who shouted stood up. At first no one reacted to it, but then about 80 men and 50 women stood up."
The clever guys will parry that these data only confirm that the Russians were afraid of everything, since the NKVD ruled over them. The Germans also thought so, but … the Solzhenitsins, Volkogonovs, Yakovlevs and others did not work in the Gestapo at that time, therefore the analytical note provided objective, truthful information.
An exceptionally large role in propaganda is assigned to the GPU. Compulsory exile to Siberia and executions were especially influenced by the views of the German population. German entrepreneurs and workers were very surprised when the German labor front reiterated that there were no Ostarbeiters among As for the violent methods of the GPU, which our propaganda still hoped to confirm in many respects, to everyone's amazement, not a single case has been found in large camps in which relatives of the Ostarbeiters were forcibly exiled, arrested or shot. On this occasion, and believes that in the Soviet Union the situation with forced labor and terror is not so bad, as it has always been argued that the actions of the GPU do not determine the main part of life in the Soviet Union, as was previously thought.
Thanks to these kinds of observations, which are reported in field reports, perceptions of the Soviet Union and its people have changed dramatically. All these isolated observations, which are perceived as contradicting the previous propaganda, give rise to a lot of thought. Where anti-Bolshevik propaganda continued to operate with the help of old and well-known arguments, it no longer aroused interest and faith."
Unfortunately, such documents are not cited in any television program. You will not find anything like it in the fashionable contemporary "near-historical" authors. It's a pity! We should always remember the deeds of our glorious ancestors and be proud of them.
References:
Mukhin Yu. I. Crusade to the East
