Comments by "zjeee" (@zjeee) on "Berlin's Hated WW2 Memorial" video.

  1. You don't know much about your city then, removing the tanks has been hotly debated for almost 10 years now the only reason they were not removed is because we made a treaty in 1990 that we would preserve all Soviet monuments. The memorial itself people are fine with, the tanks however is another story.
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  2. I don't mind keeping the graves the rest can be thrown into the rubbish bin though. Send the tanks back to Putin I am sure he needs them in Ukraine.
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  3. Yes, the former USSR states were not very found of the Soviets at all. Only the Russians remember the Soviet empire as a good thing.
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  4.  @harmdallmeyer6449  The guy is pro Russian so he has a problem with all of the West right now. The EU countries in particular.
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  5. lol
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  6. There has been several calls to remove the tanks already and I wouldn't be surprised to see them gone after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps Putin will agree I heard the Russians started to use old equipment. Perhaps they need to use those tanks in Ukraine.
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  7. There are plenty of Russians in Berlin still.
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  8. A lot of Eastern Europe only received their freedoms after the fall of the USSR. We can be thankful but let's not pretend the Soviets were angels and did not oppress Eastern Europe for decades.
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  9.  @elliotyourarobot  So much hate, did an American steal your girlfriend or something?
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  10. Well they also said the soldier statue was unable to raise his arm any higher because of all the watches he had stolen from the German homes. Seeing the Russian soldiers looting Ukrainian homes that part did not change much either.
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  11. There is another joke Berliners say about it that you might like. They say the reason the bronze statue could not raise his arm any higher is because it was too heavy from all the clocks and watches he had put on his arm that he got from looting and stealing from the citizens of Berlin. Probably another well earned jab.
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  12. The US and Brits helped rebuild Germany and have been close allies ever since, I doubt Germans mind American or British memorials.
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  13.  @hegaliandialectics4289  Well to be fair even the old nations of the USSR are removing Soviet monuments. Even the victors are ashamed it would seem.
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  14. There are some still standing yes, others have been removed it depends which specific ones you mean. Not all of them are still standing, some have been removed or vandalized.
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  15. Ask the people of the former USSR states in eastern Europe if they were "liberated" by the soviets or not. There is a reason only Russians remember the USSR fondly - they put their boot on the rest of the Soviet states and subjugated them for 50 years. The end of the war saw the fall of the fascist state in Germany and the Rise of the Fascist state in the USSR. I do agree with you though that the Soviets saved the world from Nazism, unfortunately they brought Communism to all of their neighbours though. Thankfully they are free now (or well I guess it's still left to be seen if Ukraine will stay free or not)
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  16. We used to have Statues of Stalin all over the place, after 1990 and the fall of the USSR they all got toppled and beheaded. Good riddance I say.
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  17. They made a treaty to preserve all memorials and monuments of the USSR as part of the USSR moving out of East Germany. What they could do however like many previous Soviet states have done is to build a building around and make it into an archive or moving it to an archiving facility. The treaty only specifies they need to preserve it not that they have to keep it in public view.
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  18.  @terrioestreich4007  Actually the problem people have been having is with the tanks and the soldier statue, the graves or the fallen soldiers people don't seem to mind. I think it will eventually be removed (The tanks and the soldier) and be made into a museum or perhaps a park with the gravesite
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  19.  @joek600  It is divisive and controversial, the old USSR states have been removing USSR monuments ever since the fall of and liberation of their nations. Even the former USSR states doesn't want to have those monuments on their territory.
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  20.  @WM-gf8zm  Well it's understandable, if they had to shoot all the soviet rapists they would not have an army left.
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  21.  @slavic_viking9638  Not true, when the USSR fell in my country the first thing we did was topple all Stalin monuments and behead them. Don't worry though our children will still learn how he oppressed our peoples for decades. Just because his statues are gone doesn't mean history was erased. It's a stained part of our nation's history but it's all written down and passed down to your next generation. Personally I am of the opinion it's up to whoever lives there, Germans should have the last and only say what statues and monuments should be on their territory. If they all think it's cool to keep the memorial there then so be it. It's not up to me, I am not German.
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  22. All previous soviet states except Russia are removing Soviet memorials and monuments. There is a reason the USSR is hated by all it's previous members except Russians.
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  23. Even former Soviet states are removing monuments and memorials from the USSR era, in Hungary they have been removing Soviet monuments and memorials and replacing them with anti-communist heroes from the 1956 revolt. The Baltic states and the Poles have done similar things. Shall it be removed? I don't know I leave that up to the Germans it's on their soil.
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  24.  @joek600  Honestly that's up to the Germans it's on their soil I am old enough to have seen plenty of Soviet monuments and memorials removed in one of the former Soviet states and replaced with anti-communist heroes. And that's coming from someone living in a nation that used to be part of the Soviet union. Even for us there's not much love for the Soviet empire so how can I blame others for having the same feelings? Just leave it up to the Germans, they want to keep it - fine by me. They want to destroy it - also, fine by me. If it's on their territory then they have every right to do whatever they want with it. They have treaties with Russians? Just put it into archives or move it to a location where nobody will be bothered with it, that's what we did. The Russians complained so we just put their monuments into an archives facility no problem. We only promised we would take care of it and not destroy it not where we would put it. Most of it anyway, the Stalin statues and monuments were beheaded actually. Not much love for that guy over here.
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  25.  @CoolSmoovie  Most people dislike the tanks and the statue of the soldier, the graves themselves people don't really care about though.
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  26. I totally understand, from a former Soviet union state here first thing that happened when the USSR fell was removing Statues and monuments of Stalin and the USSR. We kept the graves but we got rid of all memorials with Soviet symbols on them. We respect the dead, we don't respect the regime that oppressed our people for decades. Perhaps Germany can do the same make it into a park with the graves intact but remove the pillars and the bronze statue.
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  27.  @jakekaywell5972  So you think the Ukrainians would have a problem with Germany removing Soviet tanks from a memorial? Give me a break they will probably ask if the scrap metal can be sent to them so they can make them into bullets killing Russians lol.
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  28. The red army were in a Race with the Brits and the US to capture Berlin. Stalin needed to take the city for propaganda purposes before the Nazis made peace with the US or Brits
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  29. How do you feel about the Russian cemeteries in Ukraine growing each and every day?
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  30. 40% of the red army soldiers were Ukrainian so the chance of the front consisting mostly of Ukrainians is a high possibility.
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  31.  @arthurmcbride1235  Actually 40% of the Red army consisted of Ukrainians and it's them that received the brunt of the German invasion so it would be wrong to claim all those people dead were Russian because that was not true. The USSR consisted of many more countries than Russia and like previously mentioned they deliberately used other ethnicities in their army as cannon fodder to preserve Russians. USSR and Russia should not be used interchangeably they are totally different entities. The Germans did not venture far into Russian territory and it's mostly the Ukrainians and Belorussian civilians that faced the wrath of the Nazis. These days people have moved on, Ukraine has little issues with Germans even though they were the ones that suffered the most during the Nazi invasion of the USSR.
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  32.  @BlackTar100  If you are going to have a debate who's the worst you should probably throw Mao China and Stalin USSR in there. There were plenty of bad guys to go around on both sides of the war. While it's true Mao and Stalin were great allies in the fight against the German and Japanese it soon turned out they were just as bad as the Nazis and the Japanese. Fortunately they are all gone now though it must be said their ambitions lives on in the leaders of Russia and China still while the Germans and Japanese turned out to be great allies.
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  33. Honestly? And how many people lost their family members because of actions taken by the British empire? Every nation has their own dark past Germans of today has little to do with the Nazis just as much as Australians have little to do with the British empire. I am pretty sure Aboriginals have a word or two to say about your forefathers. At the end of the day we don't inherit the sins of our fathers - get over yourself.
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  34. Yes, truth is both the Nazis and the Soviets were trash. Bunch of rapists and murderers. Thankfully both Nazi Germany and the USSR does not exist today.
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  35. Then why are the USSR monuments being destroyed and replaced all over the former USSR nations?
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  36. Well you'd be happy to know all calls of removals only concerns the tanks and the artillery pieces not the actual graves themselves.
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  37. The Soviets were always bad it's just the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
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  38.  @jakekaywell5972  Then why are the Russians trying to re-introduce the old USSR borders?
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  39. Considering Russian actions today I wouldn't be surprised if it would not survive for long. Remember previous soviet states like Ukraine and the Baltic states hates the USSR and Russians with a Passion.
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  40. Nah you are wrong, when the USSR fell we toppled all statues of Stalin and beheaded them. There are plenty of written evidence and accounts of the Soviet occupation here that we pass on to our children. They don't need to see statues of Stalin to learn of how he oppressed us. You can preserve history in many ways you don't need statues and monuments for it.
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  41. Soviet memorials are being removed by previous Soviet states such as the Baltic states and Poland for example. Even previous members of the USSR hate the memorials and monuments representing that time.
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  42.  @Maperator  Nobody is ignoring what the Nazis did, the Soviets and the Nazis were both trash
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  43. Doesn't matter, the Memorial is on German soil and they can decide to do whatever they want with it. As I am aware it's still there only because the government wants to uphold a treaty it made in the 90s. They made similar treaties in the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary etc but they still destroyed the memorials and monuments of the USSR regardless. It's kind of funny how the old USSR states hates the Soviets more than the west.
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  44.  @jakekaywell5972  There are all kinds of people in a nation, even in Germany to this day there are people that miss the Nazis - I am not surprised there were people in countries like Hungary that would love the Soviets to come back. I guess your family didn't like the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 either?
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  45. Well maybe you'd think differently if the women being raped were from your family.
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  46. Well maybe you'd think differently if the women being raped were from your family.
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  47. Well maybe you'd think differently if the women being raped were from your family.
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  48. Well maybe you'd think differently if the women being raped were from your family.
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  49. The dead soldiers are not the problem, the Soviet symbols and the tanks especially are what most people don't like about it.
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  50.  @elliotyourarobot  Yes we know you don't like the west, it's all over your comments.
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  51.  @DrJones20  And that's supposed to be an excuse? Is this a competition who was the worst? Honestly does it matter if the Nazis killed 10 more civilians than the Soviets? They were both trash, Nazis were trash and the Soviets were trash. A bunch of rapists and murderers both of them. It's no surprise even former Soviet states hate the USSR with a passion. These days they also hates Russians the only ones of the former USSR states that look back fondly on the USSR.
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  52.  @макслюлюкин  Just because Hitler did bad things doesn't mean the Austrians have to keep monuments and memorials of other evil regimes and leaders. The Soviets while maybe not as bad as the Nazis came pretty close in their brutality. Where I am from our agreement only pertained "preserving" the soviet monuments and memorials so we just simply moved them to archives facilities or to less visited sites. We preserve them, we just do it where nobody can be disturbed by them. Except the monuments and statues of Stalin those were toppled and beheaded when the USSR fell. Not much love for that guy here after decades of Soviet oppression and occupation.
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  53. Germans did not call for the graves to be removed however the tanks in particular are controversial
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  54.  @legokingtm9462  He's talking about the soldiers that stayed and died in Berlin, not the soldiers surrendering to the Americans and the British. But I guess you could call them smart rather than craven they knew they would get better treatment from the Americans and the Brits hopefully they were smart enough to get their relative women and children out of Berlin before the red army swept in and raped them.
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  55.  @jakekaywell5972  They are not Russian memorials they are Soviet memorials. 40% of red army soldiers were Ukrainians the Russians were a minority group within the red army. There's a big possibility that most of the soldiers buried there are Ukrainians, not Russians.
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  56. ​ @jakekaywell5972  Plenty of Hungarian USSR monuments have been removed and replaced with heroes from the 1956 uprising. Zalaegerszeg - Lenin statue removed 1991. Budapest Karl Marx removed and replaced by Negy 2019 (anti-communist hero).Gyor 1990 removed a Soviet soldier monument. Budapest 1956 uprising removed plenty of Soviet monuments. Budapest 2006 a statue of Stalin was removed and beheaded. Veszprem A statue of Lenin was removed and replaced with one of the heroes in the 1956 uprising. I could go on and on about all monuments that has been removed in Hungary and replaced with Anti-communist heroes but again you are the "Native Hungarian" and everyone loves the USSR there right? LoL.
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  57.  @jakekaywell5972  Yeah let's forget about Stalin was responsible for at least 6 million, and as many as 9 million if “foreseeable” deaths caused by deportation, starvation and his great purges because, well Hitler was worse. Secondly "Russia has war memorials to the Nazis" and you name The Sologubovka Cemetery did you notice the word CEMETERY? A cemetery is not a war memorial those are very very different things. Cemeteries are just graves, a memorial is monuments, symbols etc. Does Russia have German graves with monuments containing Swastikas and German tiger tanks? Because that would be a war memorial. I can probably agree with you that the Nazis were worse but honestly Soviets were not very far behind and does it really matter? They were both regimes led by crazy dictators that are responsible for millions of deaths. It was a happy day when the Nazis fell and it was a happy day when the USSR fell.
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  58. Well deserved, hopefully we can have another true piece of history soon putting Ukrainian memorials and monuments of Zelenskyy in Moscow.
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  59. "Russia didn't invade other countries unless they were forced to do so" Ah poor Russians being forced to invade Georgia, Chechnya and now Ukraine. Why is it always the poor Russians that are always forced to invade their neighbours? Man how unlucky the Russians are all the time. Can't believe it.
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  60.  @woodenseagull1899  To be fair not defending the Nazis but the Soviets were building up and preparing to go after them. Doesn't excuse what they did but we're talking about two trash and scum leaders in Hitler and Stalin having the same idea in mind - conquest.
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  61.  @jakekaywell5972  You are 30 years too late, the Soviets are gone and 15 nations gained their freedoms. Only one of them are looking back on the USSR Fondly (Russia of course). The others are removing and destroying USSR monuments on a yearly basis. Even the Putin friendly Hungarians have replaced Soviet monuments with anti-communist heroes from the 1956 uprisings.
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  62. It's a Soviet soldier, 40% of the red army was made up by Ukrainians. The Russians actually constituted a very small part of the red army.
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  63.  @vladimirkovacevic4415  Actually the former Soviet states are removing USSR monuments ever since the fall. The only ones interested in keeping them are the Russians.
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  64. Whatever happens to it is up to the Germans. They can just do like the Baltic states and the poles just cover it with a building and use it as an archive to preserve it. The treaty only specify it should be preserved not that it has to be displayed. In fact many of the monuments and memorials that we made treaties with the Russians to preserve are now stored in Archives and have been removed from their original locations. We are not allowed to destroy them due to the treaty but we can spare the public from laying eyes on them at least. We kind of failed to preserve the Stalin statues though they were beheaded and thrown away.
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  65.  @jakemurray2635  With that logic the Russians will have to build Monuments of Zeklenskyy in Moscow soon lol.
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  66.  @hmswarspite3233  The Germans were not the only ones having a beef with the Soviets.
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  67.  @martinusher1  Soviet soldiers raped civilians everywhere they went, even in former soviet states like Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states there are records of Soviet soliders raping the civilian population after liberating them from the Nazis.
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  68. Well the government made a treaty to preserve the monuments and statues of the USSR but they didn't actually want them so their solution was to move them all to a place where nobody went or to put them into archiving facilities. Unfortunately for poor Stalin all his statues were beheaded though. They could not keep their treaty for poor uncle Joseph haha.
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  69. 40% of the red army were Ukrainians. More than likely they were the majority ethnicity in most combat groups and fronts.
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  70. Yes but the peoples of the territories that the USSR conveniently conquered and refused to let go after the war knows the Soviets weren't liberators and they were just oppressors themselves. We all remember their part in defeating Germany and we also remember their ambition to conquer Europe if they had the chance to. And unfortunately the people conquered and subdued under USSR in Eastern Europe knows far too well what their reign was like. Out of all the former USSR states only the Russians are still fond of the USSR while the rest hates the USSR with a passion.
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  71.  @A.K.4.7  Of course not
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  72. Both the Russian and Ukrainian flags were banned but if you were flying Ukrainian flag nobody would give a sh*t. You tried flying the Russian flag people would call the cops on you within a heartbeat lol. Germans stand with Ukraine just like the rest of Europe - what a big surprise.
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  73. That's because Putin's invasion of Russian and annexation of Crimea - has little to do with 1940s. You are confusing modern feelings about Russians and the past. The hate of Russians is because modern day events not because of what happened 70 years ago - there are no links here. With that being said I am not surprised and it's the same where I live in Northern Europe there's a lot of hate towards the Russian state. I am pretty sure it's the same all over Europe - not sure why you would be surprised over that - nobody likes warmongers like Putin.
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  74. There is a treaty but yes the Tanks and the statue of the soldier will likely go in the near future, it's actually closed right now because people keep putting Ukrainian flags on the monument which is pissing off the Russians lol.
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  75.  @WM-gf8zm  The funny part is that there are more Nazis in Russia, the old heart of the USSR than anywhere else.
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  76.  @ConkerVonZap  Because there are no German war memorials in Russia with Swastikas. There's a big difference between a cemetery and a memorial. I am from a former Soviet state and as soon as that empire fell first thing we did was destroy all monuments and memorials from the USSR. We kept the graves and gave them an obelisk and made it a park. We respect the dead but F me you think we're going to leave those disgusting Soviet symbols that oppressed our people for decades there? Hell no.
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  77.  @Claudia_Ackermann  You think there are memorials with Swastikas in Russia? There are cemeteries not memorials, definitely no Swastikas and German tanks or statues of Wehrmacht soldiers in Moscow. Just a small correction, most Germans buried in Russia were not SS they were Wehrmacht soldiers. The SS was pretty small compared to the Wehrmacht - not really the same.
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  78.  @michaelmichael2382  Don't mind him his girlfriend was stolen by a German he's all over the comments being salty about something ^_^.
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  79.  @vladimirkovacevic4415  Yeah because the Balts, poles, hungarians etc all loved the Soviets and cried a lot when the USSR fell and they cared so much about their monu.... Actually the first thing that happened in those countries was the destruction of Soviet monuments and statues. "liberated" 15 nations gained their freedom on the day the USSR fell, it was a moment of great joy everywhere except maybe Russia.
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  80. Doesn't it have Soviet symbols, a red army soldiers and red army tanks though? Sounds pretty political to me given the circumstances these days.
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  81. Yes, it's been covered with Ukrainian flags plenty of times. The Russians were not very happy about that haha
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  82.  @drschnaps8081  Didn't Putin say the dissolvement of the USSR is the worst thing that happened in the 1900s? I think it's fitting - Putin wants to go back to the USSR borders.
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  83.  @incog99skd11  Russians? Those were soldiers of the USSR, that includes many nationalities and ethnicities besides Russians. Seeing as 40% of the red army were Ukrainians it's a big chance the majority of the buried are Ukrainians. It's funny how people don't realize that Russians were a minority group in the red army. Most of the soldiers came from the other USSR states. Perhaps the German government ought to ask Ukraine what to do about it seeing as it's more than likely the majority of buried soldiers are Ukrainian.
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