no mo uro said:

“BTW, a similar whitewashing of the Soviets’ role in WWII exists currently, at least in the public schools. If the kids learn about Soviet involvement at all, they learn that the “Russians fought and fought to help us defeat the Nazis” (direct quote from a text I saw). No mention that the Soviets invaded Poland with the Nazis or the brutal campaign in Finland etc.”

I generally agree with No Mor Uro’s comments about how WW-II’s history is misrepresented. However the most egregious falsehood is that the United States “won” WW-II. Certainly the United States came out best from WW-II (everyone else was a smoking ruin). However we entered WW-II fairly late in the game and our causulties were comparitively modest (Wikipedia has a table). On a percentage basis the Lithuanians were the worst damaged, i.e. 13.71%. The Lithuanians had the misfortune of being invaded by the Soviet Union while the Soviets were allied to the Nazis, then invaded again by the Nazis after Unternehmen Barbarossa and finally invaded again by the Soviets as they kicked out the Nazis.

In terms of the actual fighting, the Soviets did most of the heavy lifting. Yes, the Soviets inflicted it upon themselves after Stalin agreed to the treacherous Molotov-Ribbentoff treaty with Hitler. Still doesn’t change the fact that it was the Russians who killed the most Germans. I should also add that the bulk of Japan’s military was focused on raping and pillaging China. However it was American military might that broke Japan’s back and forced their surrender. America fought a very intelligent war against the Japanese, circumventing their troop concentrations and attacking key strategic military and economic choke points. I should also add that the Western allies showed significant cunning in allowing the Soviets to conquer Berlin. We could have taken that prize but by allowing the Russian’s to take Berlin on their own, we enabled thousands of American soldiers to survive WW-II.