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Punishing Putin: EU Leaders Snub Moscow World War II Commemorations
Der Spiegel ^ | April 10, 2015 – 06:35 PM | Christian Neef

Posted on 04/14/2015 9:45:08 AM PDT by Olog-hai

On May 9, Russia is holding an enormous military parade to commemorate the end of World War II 70 years ago. With tensions between Russia and the West high, most European Union leaders are staying away from the event. […]

Russia would have liked to showcase the Armata and a host of other military technology to the foreigners who were supposed to be sitting in the VIP stand on May 9. The Kremlin had invited 68 leaders of foreign countries to the victory celebration, including the most important politicians in the Western world. So far, only 25 have accepted Moscow’s invitation. US President Barack Obama will not be attending, nor will British Prime Minister David Cameron or French President François Hollande. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be there, but only on May 10, the day after the parade. TV images from Moscow will illustrate how isolated Russia has become as a result of its policy on Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.

The bitter news was long kept from the Russian people. Television stations were constantly reporting that more and more foreign leaders would be attending the parade, but then the newscaster would read out the names of the countries they represent, including places like North Korea, Cuba, Mongolia and Vietnam. …

(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Germany; Russia
KEYWORDS: eurasianunion; eussr; merkel; putin; russiawwii; ukrainecrisis; worldwar2
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To: dfwgator
A friend of mine, many years ago, was on a train somewhere in Europe. He gets talking to the guy in the compartment with him and it turns out he's a Yugoslavian army intelligence officer. Guy tells him that in Yugoslavia, they tell Albanian jokes--"Albanians are so dumb…." My friend says that in America, they tell Polish jokes. Yugoslavian says, "I know Polish joke"

Image the rest in a Yugoslavian accent:

Polish man is fishing, catch big fish. Fish say, "Don't eat me! Don't eat me! I am magic fish! I give you three wishes if you let me go.

Polish man think, says "Okay, first wish, I want all people of China to come to Poland, then go home.

Fish say, "Okay, all people of China come to Poland then go home. What is second wish?"

Polish man say, "I want all people of China to come to Poland then go home again."

Fish say, "Okay, all people of Poland come to Poland and go home again. What is third wish?"

Polish man say, "I want all people of China to come to Poland then go home AGAIN!"

Fish say, "Okay, all people of China come to Poland then go home again. But why do you wish same wish three times?"

Polish man say, "All people of China come to Poland and go home three times, THEY GO THROUGH RUSSIA SIX TIMES!"

21 posted on 04/14/2015 11:15:51 AM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep

LOL!


22 posted on 04/14/2015 11:17:06 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: henkster

Incidentally, before the Germans were marched through Moscow, they were starved for a few days, then fed a thin cabbage soup heavily laced with laxatives. Just to entertain the crowd.


23 posted on 04/14/2015 11:17:46 AM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep
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To: ansel12

Stalin would have started the war by 1943, when he figured the Red Army would be strong enough to go on the offensive.

He counted on a War in the West, that would bleed the German, French and British armies dry. Turns out France falling so quickly was a blessing in disguise.


24 posted on 04/14/2015 11:18:33 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep

Yeah well, Soviet POWs didn’t fare too well under the Nazis, nor did the ones who were lucky enough to survive the Nazis, when they returned to the Soviet Union.


25 posted on 04/14/2015 11:20:05 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep

Which would explain why, when you watch the video of this event, the last thing you see are Russian street cleaner trucks hosing down the streets.

Stalin did not get the result he wanted from this spectacle. Most of the Russians watched with pity more than anger; the women cried, saying “They are just like our boys.”

This was the only time the Russians did this.


26 posted on 04/14/2015 11:21:42 AM PDT by henkster (Do I really need a sarcasm tag?)
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To: henkster

I have, or had, a distant cousin from the part of the family that stayed in Italy. He ended up as a telegraph operator in one of the units Mussolini sent to the Russian front. And that’s all anyone knows. Disappeared, either a nameless body among the tens of thousands dead somewhere near Stalingrad, or one of the tens of thousands who died namelessly in Soviet captivity. There’s one photo I’ve seen, a little guy in a big wool uniform overcoat, looking tired and holding a cigarette.


27 posted on 04/14/2015 12:22:02 PM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep
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To: Bubba Ho-Tep

Those are the sad stories that seem alien to Americans, but were more than common to the Europeans. The Germans had a phrase for the phenomenon: “Im Osten gefallen,” or “Fell in the East.” That was the epitaph for the son, brother, or husband who went to Russia and was simply never heard from again.

The neighbor of a good friend is German; her older brother met that fate. Not after he’d done a tour in Russia, came home on leave, went back and disappeared. However, she said that when he was home on leave, his comment was “We can’t lose this war. If they find out what we’ve done they’ll kill us all.”


28 posted on 04/14/2015 1:02:22 PM PDT by henkster (Do I really need a sarcasm tag?)
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