Russia fighting against Neo-Nazis, reiterates Putin

Returning to a theme that he has raised repeatedly, Russian President Vladimir Putin invoked the Holocaust in justifying his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement marking Holocaust Remembrance Day he said that lessons of that deplorable period in history have been ignored and were being repeated: ‘This is evidenced by the crimes against civilians, ethnic cleansing and punitive actions organised by neo-Nazis in Ukraine. It is against that evil that our soldiers are bravely fighting.’

Putin and Russia have claimed that the war is aimed at ‘de-Nazifying’ Ukraine, among other things.

Although Russia played arguably the largest role in defeating Nazi Germany, and although its troops liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp (which the day recalls), Russian representatives were not invited to the ceremony at the site.

Agence France Presse quoted the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar, remarking ‘for us, this is clearly a humiliation because we perfectly know and remember the role of the Red Army in the liberation of Auschwitz and in the victory over Nazism.’

[Image: Дмитрий Осипенко from Pixabay]

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