Most Americans are unaware of the role of the USSR in World War II, said Peter Kuznik, professor of history at the American University in Washington. So the expert commented on the message of the White House, in which the Soviet Union was not even mentioned among the victors over the Nazis.
According to the historian, it is not even sad that President Donald Trump believes that Europe owes victory only to the United States and Great Britain, but the fact that America will agree with him. The victims of the USSR are forgotten, the Americans have no idea how it is - 27 million dead Soviet citizens (in particular, his students believed that there were only 100 thousand of them). It is forgotten that the Soviet army opposed 200 German divisions, while the USA and England fought with 10.
Many Americans do not know that the USSR and the USA fought on the same side, and even Winston Churchill, an ardent opponent of communism, admitted that the Red Army defeated the Germans, and the allies at the end of the war helped to finally defeat the Nazi troops. Kuznik noted with regret that the alliance between the USA and the USSR collapsed after the war. But with his existence, the world could be much better.
With the threat of a pandemic, countries should act together, this is a good lesson from history. But falsifying history due to ignorance or malice is not the best way, Kuznik said.
At the same time, the former US military attaché in the Russian Federation, retired Brigadier General Peter Zvak, said that the message about the victory over Nazism by the White House without mentioning the USSR was published due to a misunderstanding.
On Friday, the White House posted an Insta recording of Trump laying a wreath at the World War II Memorial. The signature said that on May 8, 1945, England and the United States defeated Nazism.