Yeah I'm totally sure he said that and youre not just regurgitating propaganda
On the other hand heres what he actually said
Stalin's Order of the Day from January 19, 1945: "Officers and men of the Red Army! We are entering the country of the enemy. the remaining population in the liberated areas, regardless of whether they’re German, Czech, or Polish, should not be subjected to violence. The perpetrators will be punished according to the laws of war. In the liberated territories, sexual relations with females are not allowed. Perpetrators of violence and rape will be shot."
Yes that order does exist but in reality very few soldiers were punished for it. IIRC Rokossovsky mentioned that it was up to individual commanders to discipline their forces and most of them didn't care.
Stalin interrupted: “Yes, you have, of course, read Dostoevsky? Do you see what a complicated thing is man’s soul, man’s psyche? Well then, imagine a man who has fought from Stalingrad to Belgrade–over thousands of kilometers of his own devastated land, across the dead bodies of his comrades and dearest ones! How can such a man react normally? And what is so awful in his having fun with the woman, after such horrors? You have imagined the Red Army to be ideal. And it is not ideal, nor can it be, even if it did not contain a certain percentage of criminals–we opened up our penitentiaries and stuck everybody into the army.
Djilas, Milovan. Conversations with Stalin. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962, p. 110
Djilas was an anti-communist though so it isn't the most reliable source.
we opened up our penitentiaries and stuck everybody into the army
This bit seems to argue against the veracity of the quote. Literally millions were stuck in the infamous prison camps at the time, and they were not let out - only the previously out-of-favor officers like Rokossovsky were.
One of my ancestors was an imprisoned soldier when the war broke out (long story, he was innocent); he was put in a penal battalion, but never saw combat, despite volunteering for it. I think there were more than enough volunteers - many stories you read from the time are of kids who lied about their age so they'd be allowed to join, i.e., the subsequently famous writer Astaf'yev.
Enlisting criminals wasn't necessary nor considered desirable because they'd be less trustworthy - but someone trying to smear the image of the army would add that detail in.
He was anti stalin as the Yugoslavs were and he later renounced communism entirely IIRC
edit: He was one of the leading critics of Stalin leading to the Soviet-Yugo split. Then during the mid 1950s he went full lib and denounced the Yugoslav government as authoritarian. He spent the rest of his life being sent to jail by the Yugoslav government over and over again for publishing books that were against communism.
didn't stalin basically say "boys will be boys" when he found out about the rape of some women in berlin?
yeah, dude was a shithead but i think he did a good amount of good things as a leader, such as stopping hitler.
Yeah I'm totally sure he said that and youre not just regurgitating propaganda
On the other hand heres what he actually said
:rainbow-has: FORCED GAY SOVIETS :rainbow-has:
:rainbow-has: FORCED GAY SOVIETS :rainbow-has:
shit, my bad comrade.
Yes that order does exist but in reality very few soldiers were punished for it. IIRC Rokossovsky mentioned that it was up to individual commanders to discipline their forces and most of them didn't care.
Djilas was an anti-communist though so it isn't the most reliable source.
This bit seems to argue against the veracity of the quote. Literally millions were stuck in the infamous prison camps at the time, and they were not let out - only the previously out-of-favor officers like Rokossovsky were.
One of my ancestors was an imprisoned soldier when the war broke out (long story, he was innocent); he was put in a penal battalion, but never saw combat, despite volunteering for it. I think there were more than enough volunteers - many stories you read from the time are of kids who lied about their age so they'd be allowed to join, i.e., the subsequently famous writer Astaf'yev.
Enlisting criminals wasn't necessary nor considered desirable because they'd be less trustworthy - but someone trying to smear the image of the army would add that detail in.
Djilas was anti-communist? I thought he was literally one of the top guys in the Yugoslav government.
He was anti stalin as the Yugoslavs were and he later renounced communism entirely IIRC
edit: He was one of the leading critics of Stalin leading to the Soviet-Yugo split. Then during the mid 1950s he went full lib and denounced the Yugoslav government as authoritarian. He spent the rest of his life being sent to jail by the Yugoslav government over and over again for publishing books that were against communism.