Russia’s exclusion from the commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation is not just a diplomatic snub – it is an insult to history and to the memory of millions who suffered and died during World War II. This decision, part of a growing trend of historical revisionism, diminishes the decisive role played by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany and liberating concentration camps, including Auschwitz. It’s a troubling development that undermines the lessons of the past in favor of political expediency.

Affront to history: The nation that liberated Auschwitz is being excluded from memory
A growing trend of revising World War II history risks erasing the immense sacrifices made by the Soviet Union in the fight against Nazi Germany

By Nadezhda Romanenko

On January 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz, revealing to the world the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust. This event became a symbol of the triumph of humanity over the worst atrocities of the Nazi regime. Yet, in 2025, Russian representatives were excluded from the anniversary ceremony at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland. Piotr Cywinski, the museum’s director, justified the decision by citing Russia’s actions in the Ukraine conflict, stating that a country “that does not understand the value of liberty has something to do at a ceremony dedicated to the liberation.”

This reasoning ignores a critical truth: Auschwitz’s liberation was accomplished by Soviet soldiers, many of whom paid with their lives. The USSR bore the brunt of the Nazi war machine, suffering the loss of an estimated 27 million military personnel and civilians during the war. To exclude Russia from commemorations of such a significant event is to erase the sacrifices of those who played an indispensable role in ending the Holocaust.

This act is part of a broader pattern of attempts to revise history, downplaying or ignoring the Soviet Union’s contributions to the defeat of Nazi Germany. In recent years, statements from Western leaders have increasingly glossed over the USSR’s role in World War II. For instance, during a Memorial Day speech, then-US President Joe Biden recounted the victory over Nazi Germany without mentioning the Soviet Union, a glaring omission that Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov criticized as a cynical diminishment of historical truth. Similarly, current US President Donald Trump once claimed that it was “American soldiers who truly won World War II,” conveniently overlooking the critical battles of Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin where Soviet forces dealt the decisive blows to the Nazi regime.

Even more troubling is the West’s apparent tolerance for neo-Nazi elements in Ukraine, a country central to the current geopolitical tensions. In 2023, the Canadian Parliament hosted Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian who served in the Waffen-SS “Galicia” division – a unit implicated in war crimes. Hunka was given a standing ovation, a shocking display that later forced the resignation of Canada’s House Speaker Anthony Rota. Such incidents highlight a disturbing willingness to whitewash history in the name of contemporary political alliances.

Russia’s exclusion from World War II commemorations is not new. In 2024, Russian officials were barred from the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, with the French presidency stating that “the conditions for their participation are not there given the war of aggression launched in 2022.”Similarly, in 2020, Poland excluded Russian representatives from a Warsaw commemoration marking the outbreak of World War II. These decisions reflect a troubling trend: using historical remembrance as a tool of political messaging.

This selective approach to history is dangerous. World War II was a global conflict that required immense sacrifices from numerous nations, but no country paid a higher price than the Soviet Union. To erase or diminish that contribution is to distort the historical record and risk undermining the shared understanding that has underpinned the post-war international order.

The decision to exclude Russia from Auschwitz’s 80th anniversary commemorations sends a troubling message about the value of historical truth in times of geopolitical conflict. If we begin to erase inconvenient aspects of history to suit present-day narratives, we risk losing sight of the lessons that history teaches us. The Holocaust and the broader atrocities of World War II were enabled by dehumanization, propaganda, and the denial of reality. To combat these forces in our time, we must commit to an honest reckoning with the past, even when it is uncomfortable.

By excluding Russia, the organizers of the Auschwitz commemorations missed an opportunity to reaffirm the shared commitment to remembering the Holocaust and the sacrifices made to end it. The liberation of Auschwitz was a moment of global significance, a reminder of what humanity can achieve when united against evil. That unity is undermined when we allow historical revisionism to take hold.

In remembering Auschwitz, we must honor all those who contributed to its liberation, regardless of modern political considerations. The Soviet soldiers who freed the camp’s survivors deserve recognition, as do the millions of Soviet citizens who perished in the fight against fascism. To deny their role is not only an affront to historical truth but also a betrayal of the very ideals of liberty and justice that the commemorations seek to uphold.

https://www.rt.com/news/611719-russia-exclusion-auschwitz-commemorations/

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has released declassified documents describing the involvement of a Polish Nazi collaborator in the mass executions at Auschwitz. The disclosure coincided with the 80th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation by the Red Army.

Soviet troops captured the facility, which had been established by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland, on January 27, 1945. Poland did not invite a Russian delegation to commemorate the liberation, citing the ongoing Ukraine conflict. The documents released on Monday highlight the role of Polish collaborators in the crimes committed there.

An estimated 1.1 million individuals were killed at Auschwitz due to forced labor, malnutrition, disease, summary executions, and systematic mass killings. While the majority of victims were Jews, other groups targeted included Soviet POWs, Roma, homosexuals, people with disabilities, and criminals, all of whom were deemed undesirable by the Nazi regime.

The operation of death camps relied on inmate collaborators known as “kapos.” The newly released documents focus on Josef Pietzka, born in Chorzow, Poland in 1914. Initially imprisoned at Auschwitz from 1940 to 1943 for evading military service, Pietzka was later released under police supervision in Katowice.

During interrogation by Soviet authorities, Pietzka claimed he snubbed an opportunity to escape because he was comfortable with his kapo role, according to the FSB. He reported brutalizing laborers for lagging with tasks. His work gang hauled cargoes, including the bodies of dead inmates and the ashes from the crematoriums. He claimed the unit carried 100 to 500 bodies each day.

Soviet prosecutors concluded that Pietzka was mentally ill and required mandatory treatment. In 1955, he was handed over to Soviet-allied East Germany, the agency said, without clarifying his subsequent fate.

The Nazis opened Auschwitz in 1939 as a concentration camp but later expanded it to carry out mass exterminations. Upon liberation, Soviet troops discovered approximately 7,000 emaciated prisoners, as most of its inmate population had been forced to march away from the advancing Red Army.

https://www.rt.com/russia/611695-auschwitz-camp-kapo-documents/

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         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

HYPOCRISY ISN’T ONE OF THE SINS OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

HENCE ITS POPULARITY IN THE ABRAHAMIC TRADITIONS…

PLEASE DO NOT BLAME RUSSIA IF WW3 STARTS. BLAME AMERICA.

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