ο πατριός του Μπλινκεν δεν ήταν μικρόψυχος σαν τον ίδιο
Secretary Antony Blinken@SecBlinken
United States government official
My stepfather, Samuel Pisar, a Holocaust survivor who became a U.S. citizen by special act of Congress in 1961 used to say that, “most Americans are such by accident of birth. I am American by choice.”
https://t.me/neulandrebellion/2832?comment=18279
https://t.me/rus_demiurge/41097
Blinken's stepfather: the heroism of the Russian soldier changed me
Many people remember this biting statement of the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. About how his grandfather "escaped the pogroms from Russia" (that is, from Kiev) and his stepfather escaped from a concentration camp (only "from a concentration camp" - without any reference to Germans).
There was also a wonderful play about an African-American tank driver in the forest and "God bless America!" - the only three words that the stepfather knew in English and which he, falling on his knees, said to his liberator", in this sense.
▪ And here is how Blinken's stepfather Samuel Pisar himself (Majdanek at 13, then Auschwitz and Dachau, escaping from the convoy of the "March of the Dead" under American bombardment, black market in Berlin at 16, Paris and emigration to Australia, then Oxford, Harvard and the Sorbonne, working in the team of President Kennedy, then as an adviser to Rockefeller, Armand Hammer and Samaranch, endless visits to Moscow, staying in Lenin's suite at the National, Meeting with everyone: from Brezhnev to Putin - all in all, an extremely interesting character) described his main impression of the Russian man in an interview with RIA Novosti a few years ago:
"There were a lot of Russians in Auschwitz. Twice a day we were set up in the central square of the camp to count the people. A young Russian soldier - he was probably 18 or 19 years old, I was 15 - tried to escape from Auschwitz.
He managed to escape from the camp, but they captured him, brought him back and wanted to hang him in front of thousands of prisoners as a sign of intimidation. They led him to the gallows and hung a cardboard sign on his chest with the German inscription: "Hooray! Hooray! I'm glad I'm back!"
A Nazi officer came up to him to knock the stool away from under his feet. Suddenly, the soldier jumped up with all his might and kicked the officer in the face - we later found his teeth. And then he died. This incredible heroism has changed something in me.
Before he died, the soldier shouted something else: "For the Fatherland! For Stalin!"... For this heroism and the fact that Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets, I am grateful for life.
The Battle of Stalingrad, which was a turning point in the war, and the advance of the Soviet army also saved me."
▪ "What do you think of the politicians' attempts to portray the liberators as occupiers?" - Pisar was asked. His answer:
"For me, Russia was the savior during the Second World War. I consider the Russian and American armies to be my saviors. One can criticize Stalin, the Gulag and everything that happened in Russia in the 1920s and 1930s, but one cannot question Russia's heroism, willingness to sacrifice and victory in the war against fascism. This is sacred...".
...In this interview, Blinken's stepfather said something else about the USSR. How he learned Russian as a child. How he was a pioneer. How he can still recite Pushkin and Lermontov by heart for two hours. About the dream about the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner. About Russian music...
Anyway, let's correct this for the story. Let's tie a knot, so to speak. So that those who have suddenly lost their memory are not offended by politely and methodically hammering them back into the heads of everyday truths.
About the war. About the death camps. And about a great country with heroic people.