Dear Editor,
May 9, 2021 marks the 76th Anniversary of the victory over Hitlerite fascism in Europe and the end of the Second World War. That victory came at a very great cost to the peoples of the World, particularly the people of Europe. The amount of persons who died has never been correctly known. A conservative estimate puts it at almost sixty million people. The Soviet people, particularly the Russian people, lost some twenty-seven million souls. It was a bloody and destructive war. The destruction and the sufferings were just terrible. Millions of people were displaced. Some starved to death as happened in the hero city of Leningrad which was under siege for more than 900 days. Cities such as Minsk, Warsaw and Berlin were almost totally destroyed, very few buildings were left standing.
The victory of May 9, 1945 not only came at a very high price, it had a powerful impact on international relations. Democracy was saved in Europe from the vicious fascist dictatorship. That victory moreover laid the foundation from the end of colonial domination. India and China were the first to put an end to their colonial and semi-colonial status. That was followed by sweeping victories in Africa, first Ghana in 1957 and Nigeria in 1960 and later the Caribbean. New International Institutions arose to try to see that such wars would never happen again. The United Nations is the most important of these. At this very moment we are struggling to end the Corona virus that has spread throughout the world. The role of the World Health Organization (WHO), an arm of the UN is very central to our efforts.
Clearly mankind owes a lot to the Allied forces that defeated the fascist. However, we must acknowledge the leading role of the Russian and other Soviet peoples in breaking the back of the fascist. The heroism of these people, their sacrifices must never be forgotten. This is important since there are very few people who are alive today that experienced that horrible war. The world leaders of today have all been born after these horrific events or were infants. Naturally, memories are fading. The lesson of those times seem to have been forgotten. Many of the pledges made after that war are now being forgotten or just lost over time. Today the arms manufacturers are making trillions of dollars. A casual glance at the military spending of the top ten countries in the world show how much of the world’s resources are being wasted on these weapons.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union we were told that communism was the problem. In the drive to demonize Russia, war memorials honouring the heroic feats of the Red Army soldiers were pulled down in Europe. Well, ‘communism’ in Eastern Europe has collapsed. Russia and the former socialist countries of Europe are all capitalist states now. Clearly the problem was never communism. As President Dwight Eisenhower warned us as far back as 1960, we must beware of the growing power of “the Military Industrial Complex” which was influencing every aspect of life. His warnings apparently has not been heeded. We must demand Nuclear Disarmament now while we pursue total disarmament. That would be the greatest tribute, the best way to honour the lives of the millions that were lost to defeat fascism and to uphold freedom and democracy in our world.
Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar