Defeat in the East (Flight in Winter) – Juergen Thorwald
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Overview: This book is an outstanding, very moving account of what the civilian population of Eastern Europe had to endure when marauding Soviet soldiers moved westward into Europe. Sadly this is a MOST forgotten chapter of world history. Contrary to what many others might believe, I also do not think this was America’s finest hour. It seems to me that there is an inordinate amount of time spent beating up on Germans during World War II while ignoring the animals Soviet soldiers turned out to be as they moved west. Baffling as it seems now, the Americans were largely insensitive caring nothing for the plight of thousands of innocent civilians–non-combatants–fleeing about-to-be-occupied Soviet territory trying to save their lives and protect the honor of their women. It was most appalling to read when one American high-ranking officer stated to a German high-ranking officer "I do not understand why you do not want to surrender to our Russian allies. It would be the best thing to do for all concerned." Even General Dwight Eisenhower turned his back on these "poor, huddled masses" America was supposed to represent itself as a bastion of freedom to. I shutter to think what would have happened if my Lithuanian-born parents, first married in Lithuania in a civil ceremony in March 1944 then in a Catholic church damaged by bombs in Berlin in December 1944 had not had the opportunity to leave in January 1945 just months before the Russians took Berlin and started their bestial assault of the local female population.
I agree with Erich Rachut who wrote in his review of May 6, 2008: "If you have read enough, from both sides, and especially if you have known individuals still alive who experienced this conflict, you know that, as destructive and often pitiless as the struggle was, the damage visited on the Russians by the Germans was nothing like that visited on the Germans by their enemies. We are talking about machine gunning whole villages, mass raping of all women between ages 8 and 80, running over wounded with tanks – and worse."
Genre: Non-Fiction > History
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