That's an easy question to answer and there's nothing sinister about it. By 1941, the Bolsheviks had their fair share of enemies at home and abroad - between the civil war, collectivization, the purges, and so on, there were plenty of discontents, particularly within the repressed nationalities and in some remnants of the White exiles. Even before the Nazi invasion, there were some within the exile camps that viewed Germany as an opportunity to destroy the Bolshevik regime. And when the invasion finally started, before the mass killings and deliberate exterminations campaigns swept up millions of people, White exiles, ethnic nationalists, and other anti-communists militants flocked to the German banner. They eventually added Soviet POWs to their ranks. Tens of thousands joined. Some within the Nazi government even entertained the idea of establishing independent countries using these armies. Hitler eventually dismissed these ideas, although many of the soldiers remained in German service due to the manpower demands of the war, but between Hitler's opposition and Nazi repression, the credibility and political position of these Russian forces became untenable.
Something like 25 million Soviets died during World War II and Russia suffers today still from the population decimation as a result. And something like 80% of German military casualties were incurred on the Eastern Front - so there is some truth to the idea that (1) the USSR suffered the most at the hands of Nazi Germany and (2) that the USSR also inflicted the most damage on Germany. I'm personally of the opinion that after the failure of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany was destined to lose anyway.
As for the neo-Nazis in Russia today; neo-nazism is nothing at all like its classical predecessor. You will find neo-nazi elements in every country that the original Nazis had planned to destroy. The definition of "Aryan" has expanded to include virtually all white people. Ironically, it has become more inclusive
.
Originally Posted by AmericanPride
That's an easy question to answer and there's nothing sinister about it. By 1941, the Bolsheviks had their fair share of enemies at home and abroad - between the civil war, collectivization, the purges, and so on, there were plenty of discontents, particularly within the repressed nationalities and in some remnants of the White exiles. Even before the Nazi invasion, there were some within the exile camps that viewed Germany as an opportunity to destroy the Bolshevik regime. And when the invasion finally started, before the mass killings and deliberate exterminations campaigns swept up millions of people, White exiles, ethnic nationalists, and other anti-communists militants flocked to the German banner. They eventually added Soviet POWs to their ranks. Tens of thousands joined. Some within the Nazi government even entertained the idea of establishing independent countries using these armies. Hitler eventually dismissed these ideas, although many of the soldiers remained in German service due to the manpower demands of the war, but between Hitler's opposition and Nazi repression, the credibility and political position of these Russian forces became untenable.
Bookmarks