My former colleague Paul was a native of Yekaterinburg. He had long lived in the Czech Republic, speaks Czech, and also were friendly and talkative. During breaks we often chatted about everything, including Russia. “Paul, you know those jokes that were told about Russians and Russia? As there are constantly drink vodka and stuff?” “Yes, Yes, I know… you Know, somewhere in Russia, everything is true, as in the anecdotes and in some places worse.” he said and laughed at me.
“You, Paul, from Yekaterinburg… And how is it?” — “Well, it is a city at the foot of the mountains in… Asia, but on the weekends we always went to the country to Europe, about an hour by car.” — “And if there’s any industry?” “Well, of course! There is “Uralmash”, which produces tanks. Then there’s “the Ural car-building factory”, there are also make tanks… But in Russia as in all. What do you think produces “Ural tractor factory”? Tanks! And “Pervouralsk new pipe”?..” “Tanks?” — “Of course!”
So we chatted during breaks, and always when Paul began: “in Russia…” — this meant that there would be some very strange story. Once I shared with him one paradox. Books, movies, and the history of the Russian seem to me the people who passed through the trials, solid tragedy, extinction, drama, people that infringe all sorts of villains. But at the same time creates the impression that the country lives and the other people — “those Russians” who are wherever you like, all occupied, who are constantly obsessed with Imperial ambitions, only want to conquer and somewhere to send troops… Paul raised his eyes to heaven and said, “it is! Each of us — Russian, and together we are “the Russian”!”
I guess you all know the feeling: you read Russian literature, listen to Russian songs and feel all this misery, pain and at the same time, the quiet humility and dedication. And then take up the history of the USSR — necessaryyou where there are camps, and NKVD, and calls at four in the morning, and people disappearing from photos, and sending to Siberia in cattle cars, and Stalin, who exported millions of tons of grain from Ukraine, while Ukrainians were starving. You remember 1968, and eyewitness accounts in a whisper about how in 1945 us though and released, but actually took and immediately began to take out the Russian immigrants and other people on slave labor. Remember the “great construction of socialism”, as you told them in school, and you suddenly see not the shining pillars of the Komsomol, and the crowd of grey figures dressed in rags, that hollow rock wooden crowbars and die — absolutely innocent. “Paul, even Stakhanov was not a record — they lied to us 40 years!” “The fact is that in Russia we always lied about everything!”
But most of all I was surprised by our compatriots, who have protect, or deny, or justify. According to them, Stalinism and socialism were not crimes, but only a “mistake of the individuals” (perhaps that is why even Lenin wrote that a revolution always requires the elimination of part of the population that the society could begin to change), and all have the same answer: “In the US to kill blacks!” What the EU does that make those that make those… and that the US government and the West hiding from us! Yes, they’re hiding from us, but certainly not what you post on the “alternative sites” and these mysteries not as much as it conceals and distorts quite consciously and systematically TASS, today it is called.
Well, when, for example, one of the “alternative platform” called “STOP media manipulation” (of course, refers to the Western media mainstream), and reports news like “Ostrava trains carry missiles in Ukraine.” I mention this because a few days ago I saw this message again. Perhaps you read it…
And you know what? The station where the photo was taken to this news, is located in Yekaterinburg. It is really a rocket, but the Russian “X 22”, designed for bombers “Tu-22M”, and in addition disassembled (without tail), so, most likely, they were intended to destroy. The details you will find on the Russian site.
Think about it, if ever you want to do a “census” and write: “this is what we hide from…”
