Russia declassifies secret documents on Nazi-Soviet pact

Tom Parfitt in Moscow guardian.co.uk, Friday 21 August 2009 20.05

Russia has declassified top-secret surveillance documents in an attempt to justify its occupation of Eastern Europe under the Nazi-Soviet pact, signed 70 years ago on Sunday.

The hidden protocols of the pact, in which Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler agreed to carve up Poland and other sovereign states, were denounced by the Soviet parliament in 1989, shortly after they were revealed for the first time.

But the pact, which lasted until Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, is now being rehabilitated to chime with Kremlin ideology that claims a Russian sphere of interest in the "near abroad" former Soviet republics.

Hundreds of formerly secret spy documents have been published in a compendium by Lev Sotskov, a retired KGB major general working under the auspices of the SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service. The SVR said the files demonstrated the Soviet Union was left with no choice but to agree a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany in August 1939 after Britain and France signed the Munich agreement appeasing Hitler's partition of Czechoslovakia the previous year.

The pact – signed by foreign ministers Vyacheslav Molotov and Joachim von Ribbentrop – bought time for the Kremlin after the west had betrayed Stalin, Sotskov told reporters in Moscow. Declassified documents collected by the NKVD showed London and Paris wanted to "direct Hitler's aggression to the east" and were indifferent to the fate of the Baltics, he said, adding: "Now the thinking behind English politics is revealed: let Germany start a war with the USSR and then we'll see what happens."

Most contentious is likely to be Sotskov's claim that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania willingly acquiesced to Soviet domination. "There was no occupation," Sotskov said. Historians and politicians in those countries vehemently deny such claims, saying tens of thousands of people were killed or sent to the Gulag and puppet authorities installed to enable annexation.

Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, stressed after the war with Georgia last year that Russia has a "zone of privileged interests" in its "near abroad". Earlier this year he set up a commission to battle "falsification of history", saying neighbouring states were trying to distort Russia's past for political gains.

Pavel Felgenhauer, a military expert at the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, claimed Moscow was praising the Nazi-Soviet pact's secret protocol outlining a sphere of influence in Europe because "the Kremlin clearly wishes to re-enact it."

"In his understanding of realpolitik, [prime minister] Vladimir Putin does not diverge from the line set by Josef Stalin," military analyst Alexander Golts wrote in the online Yezhednevny Zhurnal. "Military force decides everything, and if there is an opportunity to grab a piece of someone else's territory, it should be taken."

Latvia's ex-president Vaira Vike-Freiberga said in a radio interview that Russia was "incapable of understanding the tragedy of our occupation". "We will have to battle to preserve our independence until the end of our days," she said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/21/russia-documents-nazi-s...

Views: 44

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted blog posts
2 hours ago
cheeki kea favorited Bob of the Family Renner's photo
12 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"If you're ever out there Doc V and notice giant two legged birds roaming the wilderness be…"
12 hours ago
Burbia commented on TommyD's group The Chuckle Hut
23 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Sunday
Doc Vega posted photos
Saturday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Ashrams and Moonies Perfect Case for Mind Control

 In the late 60’s and into the 70’s we saw a strange phenomenon emerge! That was the rise of cults…See More
Friday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Modern Progress

 From some things you just can’t come backNot everyone has your backIt might just be a nuclear…See More
Thursday
Bob of the Family Renner favorited tjdavis's photo
Thursday
Less Prone favorited Sandy's discussion Sick sci-fi sex fantasy written by Epstein's first benefactor people say inspired his twisted island... before author's SON ended up arresting him
Thursday
Doc Vega commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Now Playing

"They sure as hell are! "
Aug 20
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"cheeki kea, yes they have already produced a Wooly Mammoth by crossing DNA from frozen remains in…"
Aug 20
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
Aug 20
Less Prone favorited Bob of the Family Renner's photo
Aug 20
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
Aug 20
Less Prone left a comment for Misteri
"Welcome back!"
Aug 20
tjdavis posted blog posts
Aug 19
tjdavis posted photos
Aug 19
tjdavis posted a video

The Inversion: The 'Sentient World Simulation' (SWS)

Kingsley L. Dennis discussing subjects from his new book - 'The Inversion: How We Have Been Tricked into Perceiving a False Reality' (published September 26,...
Aug 19
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Major Technical Developments in 1960 and a Major CIA Disclosure

 In 1960, there were some very significant changes in science, flight research, and oceanography…See More
Aug 18

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted