This year, 75 thiwas marked since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. The liberation was celebrated in Russia, which attributed its role as “liberator”, as well as in Moldova, under the patronage of Russian diplomatic missions and representatives of the pro-Russian government. The liberation was marked throughout the CIS area, but not in the European Union, much less in Poland.
Days before the so-called anniversary, the “Politico” portal published the statements of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Moravecki. Entitled “Moscow’s Revisionism on the Holocaust”. The speech talks about how Russia tries to rewrite the history of The Second World War, assigning itself the role of “liberator”. ” While for Western Europe, the liberation of Auschwitz “meant only one thing – the beginning of a new tragedy or the second occupation.
Russia has raised to a new level, the active process of historical reinterpretation of the Second World War and its key events.” Thus, the Kremlin tries to maintain its authority over the countries of the post-Soviet space. Now, both Poland and Moldova, which have suffered as a result of the Nazi and Soviet authorities, are at the forefront of the information war.
Residents and authorities in Poland, unlike Moldovan President Igor Dodon, honour the memory of the victims of both tragedies. They do not ignore the crimes committed by Nazi Germany, but on the contrary, they demand a reward for damages. However, this does not in any way prevent them from remembering the crimes committed by the Soviet authorities.
Today Russia remembers only the liberation of Auschwitz and the victory over fascism. The role of deportations, mass executions, the separation of Poland and the consequences of the socialist dictatorship has been kept to a minimum. The same thing happened in Moldova. Most politicians and the population support the version imposed by Moscow.
Sputnik, a museum of Soviet occupation and millions invested in the restoration of the memorial during the pandemic.
Russia’s attempts in recent years to rewrite and use for political purposes the history of the Second World War, which changed the face of Europe and the world, are increasingly obvious and tangible in Moldova. In order to impose its views on those events, the Moscow regime has developed a large-scale propaganda and manipulation strategy, the clear purpose of which is: to “exempt”” the USSR from historical responsibility.
In Moldova, more than ever, “favorable” political conditions have arisen for the implementation of Kremlin strategies: a pro-Russian president, a pro-Russian majority in Parliament and Government, control over the majority of the media and the Soviet past. The pro-Kremlin media plays a significant role in the process of rewriting historical truth, taking into account, in particular, that the institutions responsible for monitoring the activity of media resources are either politicised or completely corrupt. At the same time, no significant action has been taken to translate the information security strategy in the Republic of Moldova into reality.
Propaganda branch of the Kremlin in Moldova
Sputnik.md, whose editorial policy exclusively expresses the Kremlin’s position, is one of the most effective tools of Russian propaganda in Moldova. Being more than loyal to the Party of Socialists, the portal exercises the role of manipulator of public opinion regarding Moldovan-Russian relations. It expresses a strong, anti-European position and manipulates with much historical data. The EUvsDisinfo database recorded 49 cases of misinformation on Sputnik.md.
One of the latest such material is the one in which Sputnik.md manipulates with the data in the polls, using the comment of of Boris Shapovalov– an ardent critic of the West and a blazing defender of Russia. The material, entitled “Shapovalov: Poles are grateful to Soviet soldiers for their liberation from fascism”, is based on a public opinion poll, commissioned by Sputnik itself, which has not even been published.
What do the Poles think about that?
The latest polls show that when asked what attitude they have toward certain nationalities, 43% of The Poles interviewed said they dislike the Russians and only 28% said they liked them, as they were descendants of the “liberators”. In a 2009 survey, in which respondents were asked about the Soviet army’s entry into Poland in 1939, 60% said that there was a split of Poland between the USSR and Nazi Germany. 58% said that Nazism and Communism are the same evil.
Historical revisionism under Dodon’s patronage
In late 2019, President Dodon announced his intention to close the Soviet occupation museum, founded in 2015 by then-Defense Minister Anatol Şalaru. Soon after, the president fired the historian and director of the Center for Culture and Military History. At an event dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Union of Officers of the Republic of Moldova, chaired by his advisor Victor Gaiciuc, Dodon said that instead of the Soviet Occupation Museum he would intend to open “a normal museum of history, good, beautiful, where he would find a place for the military banner, received as a gift from the Russian Minister of Defense , Șoigu.