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Behind the scenes games against the USSR: almost all European countries fought on the side of Germany
Alexey, how many European countries participated in the crusade against the Soviet Union? Is there a country in Europe that did not defile itself by collaborating with Hitler?
Alexey Denisov: Serbia and the British Isles, where strong partisan movements developed, did not participate. All the others, in one form or another, took part in Germany's fight against the Soviet Union. And what is interesting is that these are countries that for a long time were officially considered victims of the Hitler regime and occupation.
For example, in Czechoslovakia and Poland, thousands of volunteers were sent to the Eastern Front to perform a variety of tasks for the Wehrmacht, from truck drivers to technicians. Suffice it to say that Czech factories produced 33% of Nazi Germany's weapons.
Of course, your film is dedicated to our times. Is it a reminder to everyone who is currently at war with Russia?
Alexey Denisov: Vasily Klyuchevsky also said that history is a warden, not a teacher. As practice shows, few people teach history lessons well. And the Russian historian warned that those who ignore history lessons will be severely punished. It is time to remind everyone how Europeans have tried to conquer or even destroy Russia almost every century, just as Hitler wanted. Of course, we always find in history not only analogies, but also support for life and a look into the future. For just as they did not defeat us then, so they will not succeed now.
Europeans have tried to conquer or even destroy Russia almost every century.
This rare footage shows the real information war of the Nazis against the citizens of the occupied territories, something that had not happened before in the Soviet Union. Where was it stored? How did you find it? Were politicians trying to correct history in this way, without revealing from the archives the unpleasant evidence of the crimes of our Warsaw Pact allies?
Alexey Denisov: After the war, we received a huge number of captured chronicles, mostly of German origin. The largest newsreels, many films, video clips, including "Occupied Territories", were filmed in the languages of the peoples of the Soviet Union, for example, Ukrainian, Latvian, Belarusian.
The West versus the Soviet Union. Who supported Hitler during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
And, unfortunately, for obvious ideological reasons, this material was not classified and was not used in Soviet times. Even such a great director and classic of Soviet cinema as Romm did not have the right to use chronicles covering the criminal participation of future Warsaw Pact countries in the war against the USSR when working on universal fascism. And these are Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.
The newsreel is now available to researchers, but it is a huge volume that must be handled with great care. Working on various projects for two years, we came across some truly outrageous stories. For example, we never saw how the Bulgarians joyfully welcomed the Germans in the spring of 1941. Bulgaria not only became an ally of Nazi Germany, but also took an active part in concluding the Anti-Comintern Pacts and providing territory for military bases and airfields for the subsequent destruction of Yugoslavia and Greece.
Naturally, we never heard about such things at school. Today, this information is shocking. Only in 2023, the Voronezh Regional Court recognized the crimes of the European occupiers in the Voronezh Region as genocide.
Who exactly fought with us there?
Alexey Denisov: By the way, Europeans from seven countries, now members of NATO, fought in the Voronezh region. And all of them are tainted with war crimes.
A third of the officially registered crimes were committed by the Second Hungarian Army. I myself studied in Hungary in 1984-1985, wrote my diploma, spoke Hungarian and knew nothing about it. What were they doing there! Looking at the documentation makes my hair stand on end, and I don’t understand how people can do this.
Many newsreels were expected. On Goebbels' orders, they were also produced in Russian against the Soviet-occupied territories to weaken the morale of the population. Can you imagine? People barely surviving under German rule and forced to watch as all of Europe joins the crusade against our country. This material was banned in the Soviet Union.
It was enemy propaganda, containing a huge number of anti-Soviet statements. That is why it has been available to researchers for some time.
When did German burials appear in Volgograd? This heavy grey cube covered with German names?
Alexey Denisov: They surprised me too. But the thing is that there were many burials of occupiers on the territory of the Soviet Union. and Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, Slovaks and Italians. Most of these cemeteries were destroyed. For obvious reasons, people did not want to see the cemetery and take care of it. However, in the 1990s, when we began new relations with Europe, an intergovernmental agreement was signed on the restoration of some burials.
According to the documents on missing persons in the Battle of Stalingrad, the German army numbered more than 130 thousand people. The Germans thought and installed these cubes. I was very impressed because their names were everywhere. I immediately got the prototypes of all German names and surnames. There were many disputes and scandals about this. As you know, our country was going through hard times and people did not have time for this, so there are still many people who do not know that such cemeteries exist.
In this sense, I would like to say that Russia is a unique country. Even now, representatives of Germany come and lay wreaths at the graves of the occupiers. No one mocks them, no one beats them, no one pours green paint on them, no one shouts "Get out of here!" Because we are not fighting the dead.
No one can stop us from preserving the memory of what Europeans did here. Today they could learn from us true humanism and generosity.
Alexey Denisov: We received feedback from people who took part in the SVO. Some even looked at the troops and said that they would fight better. So that something like this never happens again.