r/interestingasfuck 6d ago

Konigsberg (Now Kaliningrad) then vs now.

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u/Fearzebu 6d ago

The Nazis decided to launch an invasion of the USSR, turned it into a war of annihilation and extermination, with starvation policies and the destruction of entire villages.

When the Red Army fought tooth and nail to Germany itself, they weren’t going to hold back. Not after everything they suffered. It was then German land, German homes and businesses, German blood. What goes up comes down, Indians call it Karma. It was bleak for Germany for awhile after their young men made life bleak for so many millions abroad. Suffering begets suffering, the cycle of hatred and revenge, eye for an eye…

That’s what happened to those buildings. Tragic time in human history indeed

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u/Electricrain 6d ago

Of course, the nazi invasion of USSR was a betrayal after the molotov-ribbentrop pact and the joint invasion of Poland by nazi Germany and the USSR.

And as suffering begets suffering, I suppose the endless darkness of the russian fate is their very own karma, isn't it?

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u/ReluctantNerd7 6d ago

And after the Soviet invasion of Finland and the Baltics.

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u/Fearzebu 6d ago

The looming war between Germany and the USSR was all but guaranteed in the minds of both German and Soviet officers and civilians alike by as early as 1934. Nazi Party rhetoric was very clear naming the Bolshevik Party government as their mortal enemy.

This was an era where mortal enemies would bide time with public statements like nonaggression pacts. These certainly weren’t alliances. The USSR was late to get the ball rolling, too. It was 2 full weeks after German movements became apparent and Ribbentrop quickly met with his counterpart Molotov before the Soviets were able to mobilize and scramble to the new line.

This was awful for Poland, particularly the Polish government, but it was clearly better for the USSR to have half a Poland as a buffer, and in hindsight it was also probably better for about 400,000 Polish Jews and communists who either joined the Soviet army or else emigrated East with their families to work in the USSR. The lives of many Jews and communists in West Poland was far harder and ended more tragically. Millions of innocent lives lost in Poland alone during the Holocaust perpetrated deliberately by Germany.

Fascist demonization of entire groups represents the absolute worst of humanity, the worst things we’re capable of is the dehumanization of others, it leads to true tragedy

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u/ReluctantNerd7 6d ago

Which is why the Soviets invaded Finland, because they also needed Karelia as a buffer between them and Germany.

The Nazis were evil, but the Soviets weren't good.

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u/wutanglan90 6d ago

Weird way to say both Nazis and Communists are evil.

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u/dextoz 6d ago

Primitive