Even 80 years after the Battle of Stalingrad, volunteers are still recovering the remains of fallen soldiers. More than a million Red Army soldiers died defending the city against the Germans during months in 1942/1943. The unimaginable magnitude of this sacrifice made Stalingrad a symbol of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany – and an important benchmark for contemporary patriotism in the conflict with Ukraine.
The offensive in Ukraine has made the February 2 anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad even more significant this year. The Kremlin has tried for months to portray the operation in Ukraine as another anti-Nazi fight – like the fight against the Germans waged two generations earlier in the southern Russian city now called Volgograd.
“Today the West expects Russia to be weak”
Many Russians are receptive to this message, including Andrei Oreshkin, who leads an initiative to search for World War II remains. “Of course we are fighting fascism in Ukraine,” he told the AFP news agency at the Rossoshka war cemetery near Volgograd, where Russian, German and Romanian soldiers are buried.
Like Moscow’s leadership, Oreshkin sees the root of the conflict with Ukraine in the West’s misjudgment of Russia’s resolve and capabilities. “At that time, Nazi Germany and its allies underestimated the Soviet Union, its power and the patriotism of the people. Today, the West expects Russia to be weak.”
Such comparisons with the past can be found everywhere in Volgograd. In the city of one million inhabitants, every street bears the memory of the destruction of 80 years ago. Symbols of Russian troops in Ukraine – the Latin letters Z and V – are placed next to the insignia honoring Soviet troops. As soon as he gave the order to attack Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced that he was going to “denazify” Ukraine.
At the Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad, Tatyana Prikachikova says that after centuries of confrontation, Western criticism of Russia is “nothing new”. The museum organized celebrations for the families of Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine. “The message is that your ancestors fought fascism,” explains Prikachikova, pointing to a panoramic photo of the Battle of Stalingrad. Russian soldiers today “follow this tradition.”
The museum also hosted a Ministry of Defense-sponsored Youth Patriotic Army ceremony praising the children as “descendants of the victors of Stalingrad”. Volgograd’s well-known war memorials were also used as staging points for soldiers on their way to Ukraine.
Most AFP city dwellers have spoken out in support of the large-scale celebrations to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, but many don’t necessarily want the Ukraine comparison. Yekaterina Sedova, a 21-year-old chemistry student whose grandfather fought at Stalingrad, says: “We must remember not to make the same mistakes again and draw the same conclusions.” She participated in commemorative events, but did not want to confuse the commemoration with the conflict in Ukraine.
The alternative would be a silent celebration
Other respondents thought the celebrations, which President Vladimir Putin has said he wants to attend, are too pompous. “The battle was a tragedy for Volgograd and for our country,” said 31-year-old Maria Anshakova. She begs for a silent celebration. Historian and activist Vyacheslav Yashchenko explains that celebrations have been much more lavish in recent years than in Soviet times. The victories of the Second World War are of enormous importance for his country, but the political leadership uses historical events “to improve the country’s image and to manipulate people’s conscience”.
Meanwhile, at the Rossoshka war cemetery, Andrei Oreshkin shows off the insignia of soldiers he found in the clayey earth outside Volgograd. His organization recovered the remains of more than 1,200 Red Army soldiers from fields around the city last year alone. “Future generations may have to do what we’re doing here,” he sighs. “I just hope that the dead are not just left in the fields. And that those responsible learn from our experience.”(afp)