alan@sdcrdcf.UUCP (06/12/84)
<Lest we forget...>
A while back i was able to purchase a Soviet history book on WWII,
translated into English. It's a 550 page book entilted :The Second World
War, a Politico-Military Survey, edited by Major-General I. Zubkov, Progress
Publishers, Moscow. Translated from Russian by Vic Schneierson. It has no
copywrite date, but is later than 1957. It was printed in the USSR.
After reading the first 3 chapters, i realized that it was like a
XXX-rated movie, after you've seen the first 15 mins, it's just repeats.
so i set it down.
Letting some of my Polish Political Refugee friends examine it, i
was told by them that it is a typical E. European text on WWII, as found in
bookstores, and in schoolrooms. One man, after reading a couple of paragraphs,
put it down and told me that he could practically recite the rest of the
book word-for-word, having had it drummed into him over the years.
-----
With the passing of the anniversary of D-Day, i picked it up to
see what the E. European is taught by his government about D-Day. After
reading the appropriate chapter, i have decided to share
excerpts from it with the USENET community. It gives us a rare
glimpse at how the Soviet government teaches its people about the West.
The chapter entitled: Allies Land in France, covers three topics.
1) The Western Front from the invasion to the Ardennes Offensive (except
for political considerations in the liberation of France, which is
considered in a later chapter)
2) The 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler, and
3) the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
I have divided this into 3 msgs, the 1st is this note, the 2nd
covers point 1, and the 3rd covers points 2 and 3.
I really hope you read it, as you will be enlightened as to what
a typical history lesson sounds like behind the Iron Curtain.
Alan Algustyniak (sdccsu3!sdcrdcf!alan)
(ucbvax!ucla-vax!sdcrdcf!alan) (allegra!sdcrdcf!alan)
(decvax!trw-unix!sdcrdcf!alan) (cbosgd!sdcrdcf!alan)