History of WW2, Ed. 2, Revised & Rewritten

In fact, it is not published yet, however, there are chances we will see it pretty soon.

Today the Polish Minister of Foregn Affairs Grzegorz Schetyna gave an interview to a Polish radio.

... Prezydent Rosji jest spadkobiercą tak na dobrą sprawę kraju, który nazywał się Związek Radziecki, a to Armia Czerwona, było nie było, otworzyła bramy do Auschwitz.
G.S.: A może lepiej powiedzieć, panie redaktorze, że to front ukraiński, pierwszy front ukraiński i Ukraińcy wyzwalali, bo tam żołnierze ukraińscy byli wtedy w ten dzień styczniowy i oni otwierali bramy obozu i oni wyzwalali obóz. Tak jak powiedziałem...

In fact, the President of Russia is an heir to the country that was called the Soviet Union, and finally it was the Red Army that opened the gate of Auschwitz.
G.S.: Maybe, Mr. editor, it would be better to tell that it was a Ukrainian front, the 3rd Ukrainian front and the Ukrainians who liberated, there were Ukrainian soldiers then, at that January day, they opened the camp's gate, and they liberated the camp. So I say...

The 3rd Ukrainian Front banner.

So you say, Mr. Minister, a totally ignorant bullshit. Though you are definitely to be forgiven, you are just a good pupil of some good lecturers.

Let us remember that the story of the "Ukrainian army liberating Europe" did not start today. On September 18, 2014 the US ambassador to Serbia Michael Kirby told to a local newspaper:

It is not yet confirmed that Putin will come, but if he does – why is he coming? To attend the celebration of the liberation of Belgrade? Belgrade was liberated also by the Third Ukrainian Army, as a part of the Red Army.
If Putin is invited, are all others who participated in the liberation [of Belgrade] also invited?

Well, for a political figure it is forgiveable to mix armies and fronts. In fact, in the Red Army during the WW2 a front was the largest military formation, roughly equal to a group of armies. And it was the 3rd Ukrainian Front under Marshal Tolbukhin, which liberated Belgrade.The Front in fact existed since October, 1942, albeit till October 1943 it was called the Southwestern Front.

The 1st Ukrainian Front banner.

However, the concentration camp Auschwitz was in reality liberated by the 1st Ukrainian Front (cheers, Mr. Schetyna!) under Marshal Konev. By the way, before October, 1943 it was called Voronezhsky Front, and surely included not only dwellers of Voronezh, just like it consisted not only of Bryansk people when it was called the Bryansky Front before that.



There were no ethnical fronts in the Red Army. They were called by territories of the USSR they were fighting on or liberating, and none of the four Ukrainian Fronts that ever existed had and still has nothing to do with the modern russophobic state trying to secure its existance on the lands of the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR or, from Ukrainian, URSR), the mighty cofounder (and later co-killer) of the Soviet Union.

There were ethnical formations in the Soviet Army till 1950s, mostly divisions, brigades and sometimes separate regiments (full list in Russian is here). But there were no Ukrainian (or Belorussian) formations, for the Russians, Ukrainians and Belorussians were in fact like a trinity, three branches of one great eastern-Slavic people being the core, or spine of the USSR. As for the Ukrainian Fronts, there definitely were Ukrainians in their lists — just like Russians, Belorussians, Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Kazakhs and representatives of many other ethnicities that were then united in one mighty Soviet people.

Besides, just for your information, the 1st Ukrainian Front included one (namely, the 2nd) army of the Polish People's Army, and there were three Bulgarian armies included in the list of the 3rd Ukrainian Front after Bulgaria switched sides and declared war to Germany.

So, on this bright background the recent statement of Yatsenyuk about "the Soviet invasion in the Ukraine and Germany" does not sound that strikingly stupid, does it?

As any other lessons, the lessons of history can be forgotten. But in this case they can be re-taught, if necessary.