Governmental Control of History

Trevor Dane of Opinion Forum writes: "President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the creation of a new commission tasked with countering attempts to rewrite history to the detriment of Russia’s interests. . . The “Commission on Analyzing and Suppressing Falsifications of History Detrimental to Russia,” is being created in response to efforts in Ukraine and the Baltic States to bring attention to atrocities that were committed by the Soviet Union before and during World War II against the people of the region. Russia has never come to terms with the atrocities committed by the Soviet Union. Russia’s leaders believe that any denunciation or attention to the Holodomor famine, the mass deportations, the gulags, and the terror imposed on the people of Eastern Europe is an attack against present day Russia. . . Even more scary is that under the bill, which is likely to sail easily through both houses of the parliament, Russian and foreign citizens could be sent to prison for up to three years for accusing the Red Army of atrocities or illegal occupation during World War II, an allegation commonly lodged in the Baltic countries. If such accusations are made by an official or disseminated in the media, the crime would be punishable by up to five years in prison, according to the legislation."

As I wrote in one of my previous posts: "Juan Carlos, the King of Spain, found it necessary to express his regret for the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. Not only did he not participate personally in the expulsion, he is not even a descendant of the kings who ordered it. Nevertheless, 500 years later the King asked the Jews to return to Spain, promising that "never again will hate and intolerance provoke desolation and exile."Pope John Paul II publicly apologized to the Jewish people for the persecutions by the Catholics. He also apologized for the Holocaust and left a note pleading for forgiveness in the Western Wall. Nobody suspects the Pope of personally participating in the persecutions of the Jews. He did, however, offer a personal apology." A country whose leaders cannot recognize the atrocities their country committed in the past has no future. Juan Carlos of Spain and Pope John Paul II understood this. Putin and Medvedev unfortunately do not.

Some of the people who experienced the atrocities that now cannot be mentioned in Russia are still living. It's unconscionable that they or their surviving relatives should not be allowed to talk about their plight. It's terrifying that decades of Soviet attempts to rewrite history haven't taught the people of Russia anything. Writing history is not about serving anybody's political interests. It's about people knowing their past in order to have a future.

My grandfather was in the Red Army during the entire duration of Wolrd War II. He was wounded several times in the war. His health never recovered fully. I'm very proud of my grandfather for liberating Europe from fascism. I'm very proud that he wrote our last name on the walls of Reichstag. This doesn't mean, however, that I want any of the atrocities committed by the Red Army to be buried in the archives and never brought to light. I believe that doing this would constitute disrespect of my grandfather and other soldiers like him. By suppressing dissent Russian leaders promote the very fascism that my grandfather fought to destroy. And that is the greatest insult to his memory.