Penal.

This is coolbert:

“to redeem their guilt with blood.”

Found this by accident. A review of an eleven part mini-series as shown on Russian television. A story based upon the Soviet Army penal battalion system as used in World War Two.

A subject I have mentioned in a number of previous blog entries.

A subject that during the communist era, would have been absolutely forbidden to talk about, much less make a mini-series about.

A subject that deals with material that is NOT pleasant.

"Nikolai Dostal's critically acclaimed 11-part television serial Penal Battalion redefines Russia's last Soviet myth the heroic myth of the Great Patriotic War. While challenging some received truths about the cost of the victory and soldiers motivation to fight for the Soviet fatherland, the serial never questions the war's mythological status in Russians popular consciousness. The myth of the great victory is the last myth that unifies Russia as a community. To the question, for what kind of a community did Russians fight, the serial gives an answer that many contemporary Russians believe to be the truth about the war. For the filmmaker and his scriptwriter, Eduard Volodarskii, Russians fought and suffered for the Russian Orthodox spiritual community."

NOT, in my opinion, necessarily only a religious motivation as such. A cultural and nationalist phenomenon also. As exemplified by the Russian Orthodox Church, which was both a religious AND cultural institution of great importance. The Cossacks, for instance, will allow anyone into a Cossack grouping as long as you accept the tenets of Russian Orthodoxy.

The defenders of the fortress of Brest-Litvosk, in 1941, carved the slogan into the walls of the fortress before they were overwhelmed, "we die, but we do not surrender, farewell MOTHERLAND!!"

"The last days of the defence are covered with legends. During those days the inscriptions were made by the last defenders.

They said: 'We'll die but we'll not leave the fortress'. 'I'm dying but I won't surrender. Farewell, Motherland. 20.VII.41.'"

The Russian soldier fought, died, and stood fast as they did for "Mother Russia". The famous free-standing statue on Mamayev Hill near Stalingrad shows Mother Russia calling her sons to her defense. NOT a communist monument, regardless of what some say.

The key to the defense of Stalingrad was Mamayev Hill. A kurgan. An ancient burial mount of enormous proportions. Possibly a burial site for the Scythians. A warrior people that ruled the steppe for thousands of years ago. Mamayev Hill was a center of the Soviet defense. Captured and recaptured by both sides numerous times. Finally captured by the Soviets, employing A DIVISION SIZE UNIT OF PENAL TROOPS!!!

THESE MEN DIED IN ANONYMITY!! NO MONUMENT TO THEM OR STATUES. NOT EVEN A BRIEF MENTION ANYWHERE IN SOVIET ANNALS!!

Such was the harsh fate of many Russians in World War Two [WW2].

coolbert.