By Jorge Petinaud Martínez
Chief correspondent in Bolivia
“The most dramatic result of that conflagration were 27 million lives in our country, and we will never forget it,” he said in dialogue with this news agency.
He recalled that his four grandparents fought in the war, “thank God, everyone survived, and I will remember them this Saturday in the march of the immortal regiment that will start from the Humboldt Plaza de la Paz; I will take the photo of one of them,” he anticipated.
He reiterated that May 9 is a sacred date for the peoples that integrated the Soviet Union, and that is why the Russians argue that if it is necessary to repeat the feats of the Red Army to prevent the resurgence of fascism, “we would do it.”
“On May 9, 1945, after four years of uncompromising and brave struggle, the Red Army ended the Nazi machinery of mass destruction and hate the human race,” he reflected.
He added that the young Soviet state not only released its cities and numerous peoples, also made the key contribution to the salvation of Europe, and the restoration of human dignity against totalitarianism and fascist genocide.
“It was a tremendous sacrifice of millions of our soldiers on a battlefield,” he said, “and civilians who worked incessantly in the rear to supply the needs of the front.”
He warned that, if that turn in world history would not have happened, the planet had taken a very different course, and that is why he stressed, the tribute to the more than 27 million Soviet citizens, who “offered their lives in the altar of victory and freedom is very important.”
“They were soldiers, peasants, workers, doctors, children, elders and women united by a single objective: not let the enemy enter his home, to save his homeland, as well as other peoples submitted by the third Reich,” he reasoned.
-“We remember with emotion the trenches of Stalingrad, the indomitable resistance of Leningrad; the fury of Kursk, the crossing of the dnieper and, finally, the red flag raised on the Reichtag,” he listed.
However, he emphasized that beyond the battles, on this date he pays tribute to the unwavering will of the United People, who knew how to defend his home, his values and culture and the right to live in his land.
“After 80 years of that milestone, we reaffirm our commitment to historical memory, with truth and peace,” he said.
When referring to the crucial role played by the Soviet Union in the defeat of fascism, the diplomat said that, instead of being written by interests outside the truth, history must be remembered and cared for with respect and love, without hiding the true facts.
“Whatever happens,” Venken said, “we will preserve the historical truth, we will all do it together at the state level, of the citizen community; with the strength of all branches of power, and also each from home.”
He said that “there is no other remedy, since the peoples that ignore the sinister pages of their history, are condemned to review this lesson once again.”
He said that on a date like this, the Russian people also look at the future, with the hope that the memory of the heroic struggle of the Soviet peoples, its European and North American allies, will last.
He clarified, however, that between 1941 and 1945 the Red Army defeated 607 Hitler Divisions, while the entire Western coalition beat 193, which denies the words of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who recently said that in World War II beat the United States with some help from the Soviet Union.
“Faced with this reality, we reiterate that no one or anything will be forgotten, and no one can take away the honor of the victory, and if necessary we would repeat it again,” concluded the ambassador.
lam/jpm
