“Russians were perceived in the GDR as occupiers,” he read in an article on the German television station MDR a few days ago. The historian Zilke Satyukov acted as a consultant.
After that, I had no choice but to call Himmler. More precisely, I decided to talk with Catherine Himmler, the granddaughter of Ernst Himmler, a brother of the SS Reichsführer.
Who, if not the heiress of the Himmler family, who for many years has been trying to tell their compatriots how monstrous her country was, will be able to explain to me the reasons for such an impudent and insulting lie to MDR, I decided. In the end, the name Himmler, like Hitler and Goebbels, represents the crimes of the Germans, including in the territories they occupied. I emphasize: in the territories they occupied, including in the USSR, where they committed their anti-human crimes.
Catherine did not answer the phone, but later called me back.
- Good afternoon, Catherine! I wanted to ask if your feelings have changed over the years. Maybe you no longer consider Germany a criminal country?
I have known Catherine Himmler for many years. She is a very decent person, scientist, writer. In her books, Catherine explained why the German people - literate, educated, traditional - could turn into a criminal people. The conversation turned out to be friendly, but not meaningful. Catherine Himmler said she has not been commenting on National Socialism for several years. According to her, the German media manage to distort her words, and she decided to completely refuse any public comments.
If Catherine Himmler already considers the comments of the German media to be perverted, why are we surprised by the vile words about the invaders that were heard on German television? Now scolding Russian is very salon. Anyone who calls himself a historian is ready to speak on these topics today.
I decided to spend some time and study the biography of Zilke Satyukov, whose name appears in the aforementioned article about the “Russian occupiers”.
Who is Zilke Satyukov? In Germany, the professor is a fairly well-known person, and her scientific works have spoken names. I will list some: “Russians in Germany”, “Occupants. Russians in Germany 1945-1994 "," Russians are coming! Memories of Soviet soldiers 1945-1992. "
Like? I remembered the American Minister Forrestal, who became famous for the cry "Russians are coming!"
The figure of Frau Satyukov is very interesting, because she was born in Weimar, on the territory of the former German Democratic Republic, brought up in a socialist camp, to use its terminology.
Moreover, until 1996, Zilke studied the Russian language, including Russian literature, in Moscow - in the den of the "invaders." What offended the “Russian occupiers" of the future historian, the star of German historical research?
There is one point in the biography of Frau Satyukov that explains a lot. In 1996, she, as a young budding scientist, was noticed by one German foundation, the German Education Support Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e. V.). This fairly well-known NGO with an annual amount of funding of approximately € 117 million spends its money on research, including in the field of history. According to the charter, the foundation selects especially gifted students, young people, and gives them the opportunity to engage in scientific work. Apparently, they also noticed Zilka Satyukov, invited them to her room, and opuses about the "invaders" from her pen fell one after another: "Russians are coming," "invaders," "children of invaders," and so on.
I would not want to stoop to the assumption that German NGOs intentionally stimulate “gifted Germans” in this direction, but such a suspicion creeps in.
Let us return to the material of German television with which I began.
“The Russians in the German Democratic Republic, until their departure, remained in the eyes of many primarily the invaders,” they write.
A bold statement, but made explicitly on the basis of an anti-Russian wave aimed at rewriting the history of World War II and the post-war period.
I’ll tell another story. Around the time when the former “eastern” Zilke, as a gifted student, began to write opuses about the “occupiers”, a German from another “eastern” city - Wismar - turned to me. In the early 1990s, she met a Soviet officer who served in the city where she lived. A young girl (she was 19) and a Russian lieutenant, who was three years older, fell in love. Those who lived in the GDR know this time. The time of studying the Russian language, Russian culture, the time of close and good relations between Germans and Russians. Invaders and natives? Insult and lie.
But the time came when the evil "invaders" allowed the Germans to unite the two countries, and the young lieutenant was forced to return home. The girl did not dare to go with him, she stayed to live in Germany. And a few months later she gave birth to a boy whom she named Alex - Alexander. She raised him as a German, because it became uncomfortable and even dangerous to speak well of Russians after the unification of the country. Alex went to school, feeling like a German to the roots of his hair. However, in the fourth grade, he came to his mother with the question: “Mom, why am I called Russian?”
And she finally told him who his father was, how he was born, a short love story with a Russian officer. Then came the wonderful metamorphoses. Young German Alex began to gradually turn into a Russian guy Sasha. He learned the Russian language, began to study Russian history, fell in love with a girl who came from Russia. Together with her, he visited Moscow, tried to find his father - unfortunately, unsuccessfully. I talked to him several times. Sasha is happy that he, a German, can consider himself a Russian too.
I'm afraid for him. In the heat of anti-Russian hysteria and him, a German with a Russian soul, will be called the son of the occupier.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the publisher.