evacideNov 9, 2024

Today is a good day to remember the time I told my Jewish grandmother, who had been an officer in the Red Army all through WWII, about the debate over punching Nazis.

"This is trick question," she said, narrowing her eyes. "When you are done punching, Nazi is still alive, yes?"

Show threadIrisNov 9, 2024
@evacide
Oh yeah, both the greatgrandmothers I talked to closely and especially the one who raised me (was making plane engines under Tupolev) were great at understanding that stuff. They truly, deeply Got It.
Show threadsortiusNov 9, 2024
@Iris_IllEra @evacide 40 million dead on the eastern front, 19 million of which were Russian civilians, it's pretty easy to see why
Show threadIris
@sortius @evacide *soviet
Nov 9, 2024 at 8:58pmWeb
Show threadsortiusNov 9, 2024
@Iris_IllEra @evacide yes, my mistake 😖
Show threadIrisNov 9, 2024
@sortius @evacide
My greatgrandmother who stayed in Skaushin in Belarus had all of her children killed by nazis poisoning a well while she was gone with partisans. She chased these guys down and flayed them alive, and fed the remnants to pigs.
Show threadIrisNov 9, 2024
@sortius @evacide She died from COVID-19 in 2021, but she always recounted that feat with pride.
Show threadThe Febrile MuseNov 9, 2024
@Iris_IllEra @sortius @evacide I am so sorry.
Show threadAlexander The 1stNov 10, 2024
@Iris_IllEra @sortius @evacide Hearing this and the other stories for the first time, and I'm surprised there's not more "John Wick" esque movies about these grandmas.
Show threadLukefromDCNov 10, 2024
@Iris_IllEra @sortius @evacide I hope her pigs were OK with eating such nasty meat.
Show threadRiley S. FaelanNov 9, 2024

@Iris_IllEra Including the people who had no alignment with either, but happened to live in the Bloodlands.

TBH, if the Soviet military had been run better, it could have cut the loss numbers at the very least to one half, perhaps even to one third, of the actual death count. The massive losses are, to a significant dagree, because Stalin was afraid of generals who could strategise too well, and (to a lesser degree) surviving veterans with front line experience.

@sortius @evacide

Show threadIrisNov 10, 2024
@riley @sortius @evacide
1. I don't think it would have been possible to cut deaths below civilian deaths (almost half) by reforming the army. Because of the definition of civilian.
2. History does not know of the word 'if'.