It was really weird to me, meeting people who lived through both the Nazis and Soviets, and I'm talking partisans who fought the Nazis, how much they hated the Russians. My ex's grandfather never told anyone in his family that he was a guerilla until well after the fall of Communism, because the Russians would have killed him and most likely all of his family. "If you're gonna cause trouble for them, you'll probably cause trouble for us" kind of thing. I posted pics and told the story years ago on here of the other side of the family getting sent to Siberia in 39 or 40 to work at I think a timber mill. Old man was a veterinarian, so he was obviously too educated for the Soviets to tolerate running around. Put them in wooden railcar and that was that. I never should have broken up with that girl, not sure what I was thinking.
A couple of things that seem to be overlooked often. The Russians were allied with Germany at the beginning of the war and had they not been affiliated with Germany, it would have been a lot harder to annex Poland and the war would have started under different terms. Second, the USA had not even completely amped up or extended it's self to the limit by the time the war was over. The United States was capable of even doing more, and the technology and production were only improving for the USA. Had the war been extended longer, the Germans would have had a serious issue. Yes. Russians have very fragile egos. The only nation with a more fragile ego is the Chinese and they are FAR worse.
Something to remember: My father and 2 of my uncles were combat veterans, but practically my entire family from that time were involved in either the war plants or farming. EVERYONE at that time was involved in some way. Good thing too. Imagine the Russians and British without the food we sent them to keep them from starving (as well as all the destroyers, aircraft, weapons, railway, fuel, tanks, planes, boots, locomotives, and on and on we sent them).
Nobody has ever denied that. When you place zero value on human life, and human numbers are your real advantage, then you don't mind a meat grinder. There was no 4F in the USSR. There were no age limits. Imagine if the US had to play by those rules?
The best way to put it is that no country suffered as much as the USSR. They shed a lot blood... but they also made the war last a lot longer by supporting Germany early in the war.
I have a friend who is Jewish and grew up in the Soviet Union. He has incredible stories...some very very sad ones, including about his grandparents during WW2. I had him join me and my sons for dinner one night just so they could hear those stories directly from him. Incredible. Over a beer he will say, "I'm not so sure it was better for the Soviet Jew that Stalin won." He doesn't believe it would have been any better had Hitler won...just that at the end of the day, they were both masters of genocide, and Jews were treated like rats. He's spiritual...not religious. One of his best stories was being drafted to go fight in Afghanistan but having some incredibly rare injury for someone his age appear out of nowhere. He talks about watching the tanks roll into Afghanistan on his TV in the hospital where he was recovering and says but for that rare injury, he wouldn't be alive to be able to tell me the story. I'm incredibly grateful for this guy.
You seem to forget what the Brits did with Enigma and the Americans did with US soldiers during the atomic tests. Lets not step on that soap box please.
The man just to the right of Eisenhower's chin is my uncle, Edward F. Sabo. He was a member of E Co., 506th PIR, AKA the "Band of Brothers". Uncle Ed served with the unit until just before the capture of Berchtesgaden. One of my most treasured memories is of sitting with he and my father (now both deceased) and listening to stories from the war as well as from their childhoods growing up in Illinois. I was 18 and just sat and listened for 5 or 6 hours. It was amazing. Somebody posted earlier that their relative said they'd never been so cold as they were in Korea. Uncle Ed said the same thing about Bastogne. He had a copy of Ambrose's book and had written copious notes in the margins correcting what Ambrose got wrong or adding additional information. His daughter created a spreadsheet of those notes and sent me a copy last year. It is an awesome and unique piece of history. Two years ago, this article was released by the National WWII museum in New Orleans: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/w...MIyIm1vvjX4gIVhp6zCh0CywhpEAAYASAAEgI_vfD_BwE Last year I finally made it over to Normandy, stood on Omaha Beach, climbed the dunes and visited the cemeteries & museums. I will never forget it. Truly, the Greatest Generation.
Thank you for this! Crazy to think a Clutchfan member is a direct descendant of that group of soldiers. Its also nice for you to have such a rich understanding of your father and uncle's history in WWII. My father did relate some information about his war experiences to me before he passed, but never the battle experiences. Stupid me, I never actually got clear on what unit he served in but through some internet sleuthing, I know he served as a Glider Trooper in both the 13th and 17th Airborne. Of course we also know he was involved in the Battle of the Bulge too so he knew about that "coldness" your Uncle Ed described. I could listen to stories like this all day....regardless of where in the war they were or how mundane.
If not for billions in US aid through lend-lease Russia would have had a even more difficult time holding off the Germans. Would Russia have survived the early years of war without American supplies?
Had a great uncle serve twice during WW2. He would tell us where he was and when, but never talked about anything else. The first time he ended up in Burma. Came home. No jobs. He said he was not going to fallow the mule. So reenlisted this time with the air force. Ended up in Philippines, but things were basically at a end.
