On a visit to Hungary in 2016, we visited a park with all the demolished Soviet statues from around Budapest. Like a graveyard for statues, it was fascinating.
Lithuanian here. Got no issue with certain monuments being left to stand. Some represent regular people or locals, they can be maintained. Monuments that glorify the occupation or random Russian communists (in non Russian nations) can be destroyed or put into museum.
Here is the thing my man, they dont represent russian communists but regular soldiers and many of the red army's soldier were infact ukrainians not just russians and btw most soviet leader werent even russian to begin with not only that the first bolsheviks were almost all jews
Her argument on the equestrian statue, oh boy... He might be criminal but "It is beautiful and if we remove it, the place will be empty". Sadly, instead of offering a counter argument, that lady is just a joke.
Difficult to say, as someone who is from a country once ruled by the british empire as so many countries were, should we tear down all the momuments the british built? I imagine this same situation can be said about many countries around the world who were liberated or seperated from their respective empires like Britain, France, Germany and of course Russia. Like i imagine the Irish might have a different view of british rule than say the Canadians or Austrailians. And the tearing down of monuments like this after the collapse of a major empire is nothing new. Its happened all throughout history as empires come and go and regimes and idealogies change. Ultimately i guess its upto the nations themselves to decide what they want their identity to be.
Its a nuanced question. There is no such thing as perfect morals. Every Empire and nation has done terrible things, be it the British Empire, French Empire, Spanish Empire, or even the Russian Empire. Should we tear down Roman architecture because they invaded and counquered many peoples. Because of all their bad deeds. Or should we preserve them as an important part of the history of the nation? Most of history and indeed the legacy of most nations and empires is often not all black and white, history is of course nuanced in that way.
@@livethefuture2492 Of course not,but you're missing a point.Ukraine is being attacked right now by Russia.Roman Empire hasn't and isn't attacking anyone anymore.Same goes for the Brits
If people of the world could only understand that this is all part of the WEF agenda. This war and everything associated with history to be erased from humanity. By tearing all statues down is the marker of what they want. We are walking blindly right into it. What they want will be statues of transhumanistic garbage! Statues of Bill Gates Klaus Schwab and robots. Watch and see it’s coming. Wake up world!!!
Як ви це порівнюєте взагалі? Британія дала вам квиток до цивилізації і теперь не намагається вас завойувати а навіть навпаки, ви тепер завойовуєте її зсередини. І у нас взагалі інша ситуація, де нам говорять що ми не існуємо, що ми один народ. Що з вами не так?
The monuments may be preserved as history, but they must not be revered. Having stalin's words in Berlin's center in gold is showing reverence. That stuff could be moved to a warehouse-museum where appropriate context can be provided for them.
Capitalist monuments should also be removed. The vile hand of psychopathic capitalists should not be revered. Countless people suffer and die under the brutal capitalist regime still to this day
@@andrewgodly5739 tell me where is capitalis monument?? , capitalis doesn't need monument. Only stupid socialis need monument for the purpose of brainwashing..
„We didn’t become a Soviet Republic. The indelible evidence to that our churches and cathedrals still stand today. Hungary was stabbed in the back by the conspiracies in Budapest. The country was handed over to our arch enemies, the Bolsheviks. But our grandfathers did not kneel” Fűrer Orbán
Cannot agree more - this is erasing history and many other "regimes" in the past have done it, with the result being that today there is so little left about what they destroyed and the history of what was destroyed that we have to 3D model them...
I would never judge this people for toppling this stuff. Regardless of Ukranians being part of some of this monuments the reality is that Russians allways saw themselves as the "true and only Soviets". Other nations in the USSR were there just to serve their purpose, as we can all clearly see on how they see Ukraine.
Yes, history should always be preserved, but not displayed for the public to see if that history is very questionable. Bring it into a museum or sanctuary, etc.. preserve it out of the public eye with the proper education that comes with it as opposed to plaques commemorating a man responsible for the death of 40 million people. This doesn't just go for Soviet error things as well, this is just in general. History should always be preserved, not necessarily glorified.
This is a very objective report by DW, showing arguments from all sides. I like it. As a Pole myself, we also demolished many Soviet memorials, the only thing left now are the soviet cementaries. Personally I don't see how these monuments should stay in important places. The Soviets enforced an imperial rule on Poland after WW2, so I think these statues should be moved to special museums, where people could learn about imperialism and it's causes.
@@rb2964 Oh bot. Russians rule mean backwardness and violence. So happy we got rid of them. It would be best if they stay in russia and not spill over their backwardness to surrounding countries like they have tendency to do
There is also the problem that Putin claims to be the successor to the USSR and all those statues osf Soviet soldiers and Stalin etc. are basically still staking a claim on former iron pact countries.
@@morho9422 Russia is the successor ask all the other SSR if the wanted the huge debt burden of the soviet union russia took it all really they all should of had a share of the huge debt also the decision making centre was the kremlin
The UN claim that Russia is the sucessor state of USSR, so this is why they have a seat in the security council. This don't is the same as saying that Russia is the USSR, it was a union of several republics, Ukraine was one of these, as Kazakhstan or so on, and is not true saying that the russians rules the country, as many of the Soviet leaders were not really Russians, as Stalin, a georgian. Turning down monuments built by this union of peoples that fought and won against Nazi Germany say more about who is demolishing them than about who built it.
Putin wasn't even president when Russia became the successor of the USSR lol. Also Russia became the successor so it could keep the USSR seat at the UN
It’s presented here as the tanks and monuments in Estonia were destroyed/demolished. They were not, they were just moved to museums. Completely different thing.
So where are all the monuments in Narva apart from the tank huh? Thrown into the gutter by those savages. We only discussed the tank but they violently tore down others without asking for permission. We mourn that day and will continue to forever because its clear that was an attempt to exercise power and rewrite history.
@@PaperReaper they are in museums around the country, like Ajaloomuusem, Eesti Sõjamuusem where they were taken. Some were also taken to smaller museums. Nothing was destroyed, no history was erased like the soviets did. The Estonians don’t destroy history or rewrite it in a way that fits them, they are not Russians. No statues were taken down “without permission”, they are state owned, and if Estonian people decided that they had to go, then they had to go, the state can’t go against peoples wishes.
@@tankart3645 nope, most of em were DESTROYED. Like nothing but trees (Grafov monument, the memorial plack in front of the Russian border on our square etc). Those monuments were under the city of Narva which was still formalizing the move of them. But the government removed them heavy handedly. Please check your facts and not only on ERR or Delfi. Those are state sponsored outlets. And I am not talking Russian media either, they also don't know the whole story. Only the tank was moved to Viimsi, which in of itself absurd since it could have remained in the city. But noooo, needs to be removed and all.
@@overdrivelzma.9219why do you think so, imagine to have 100+ monument's for Pushkin and only two for Lesya Ukrainka and Taras Shevchenko. We have such situation in all our cities in Ukraine and I don't think we need those monuments for Pushkin what exactly he did for us I don't remember anything, he is only a symbol of russian occupation.
Вы, я так понимаю, из страны, которой не коснулась война. Так вот. Земля в каждом городе восточной Европы полита кровью советских солдат. За освобождение каждого города от нацистов отдали жизни тысячи наших солдат. Тысячи советских детей не родились, потому что их потенциальные отцы остались лежать в земле этих городов. Нет советской семьи, которой бы не коснулась та война. Эти памятники поставлены в тех городах, где лежат кости, погибших за эти города. А вы хотели бы собрать эти памятники в одном месте, оторвать их от того места, где лежат те, в честь кого они поставлены. Вы хотите видеть лес памятников, музей скульптуры. Это от того, что вы слишком далеки от всего этого. Вам всё это чуждо. Война не коснулась вас.
@@ДмитрийТихомировСССР most of your "soviet" areas belong to another country. Its their blood that was shed, in the name of a force that did nothing but suppress and replace their culture, identify and government.
We have this issue in the US with old Confederate monuments in the South. I always found these monuments charming but this gives a little different perspective.
We also dismantled numerous Soviet monuments in Mongolia, as they were excessively abundant. Regrettably, the quantity of these monuments surpassed even that of our revered Genghis Khan memorials.
Btw, what is the attitude to Genghis Khan in Mongolia today? In fact what he was doing - capturing other nations' lands just the way russia is doing today ( and with much more atrocities) . I also recollect the monument to Alexander the Great in Skopje, Macedonia, who was a capturer too. I have doubts that it's appropriate in today's world to have monuments in honour of capturers in the cities. What is your opinion?
@@helenivanova5440 completely agree, Genghis Khan was a genocide. Even if those were different times, murder, rape, plunder, abuse and brutality are not the type of things we need to commemorate and idealize
I'm surprised this documentary didn't mention Lithuania's Gruto Parkas. It preserves the monuments, but in a way that properly mocks the brutal regime that inflicted them on Lithuania. I actually think Germany's own war memorials have the best approach. They mourn the dead, but also condemn the regime and ideology they fought for. They strike the right balance between rememberance and remourse.
As a German myself i simply think we shouldn't forget, i had nothing to do with what happend during a time when my Father wasn't even alive and im past 40... but we can learn from our past not to make the same mistakes over and over and over again... hiding the History... avoid teaching History... beeing afraid of facing History... will result in forgetting the History and thus History repeats itself. And nobody absolutly nobody with atleast 1 1/2 Braincells wants this.
Of course, they didn't mention Gruto Parkas. Baltic history is not well understood and countries like Germany don't care to learn. Instead they try to tell us what to do or even worse - listen to the side of Russian aggression.
Ukraine woman: I can’t imagine us to have for example in Ukraine some monument’s With hitler name. Ukraine: monument with bandera that committed genocide of innocent poland people, Jews and ussr people. (Totally hero)
Why not? Whats wrong with power, strength and might? These are virtues. Being a victim isnt an accomplishment. Everybody can be a victim, but not everybody can be successful.
It's not that black and white. Let's say my guys like to associate themselves with "wisdom". Wisdom is clearly a virtue, nothing wrong with that. And now my guys conquer your guys and erect a statue of wisdom in your capitol. See how the lines blur?
@@BlitzOfTheReich Russians, unlike others, never own up to their own guilt. Russian history books it is a matrix. They think WWII started in 1941 and they were liberators. They were anything but.
This thought-provoking documentary delves into the complex debate surrounding Soviet monuments in Eastern Europe.The film encourages us to reflect on the importance of acknowledging history while navigating the delicate balance between memory and moving forward. An insightful and timely exploration of a controversial topic.Thank you!!
As a history nerd and lover of art I find it sanding that I won't be able to visit Europe to see theses monument I've always found them interesting and have wanted to see them but I'm still a teenager in school so I don't really have the ability to travel yet but they're all being torn down before I can even go to see them
We had bloody war in Ex Yugoslavia , but huge monuments ( Spomeniks ) stayed intact . They are part of history and landmarks and no way someone is going to destroy them. People even renovate them
Not really. Some in Istria probably weren't, but the majority were destroyed. There are almost no statues thet depict any communist hero/solder left. Except Tito's in Kumrovec. I see in Ukraine's war a lot of similarities with the war in Croatia. Even regarding the statues.
because yogoslavia fought nazi themselves, they should be proud. It is very different in countries occupied by nazi/Japanese, later, "liberated" by allies. They not only did not participate in the process. or even fought the war for the wrong side, they see both side as invaders.
A very interesting documentary. In my opinion, contextualisation is key on this issue. Although in the case of huge monuments that loom over entire cities, there is justification for removal as they are landmarks of triumphalism over the modern populations that have moved on.
It’s like removing the Statue of Liberty because of the "terror" of the French revolution...Keep the large monument and change the shield to that of a trident!
And it’s not like they are destroying them!!! They are carefully and taking these “Monuments” down. She must not understand what they actually stand for - and how many people suffered ?!?! Scary cause this is how a lot of people are things. pain for many people, and preserving those “monuments” - s. They aren’t erasing history. Just not displaying Stalin relics anymore. This girl shows exactly Russian thinking.
@@anthonypazana6105 did French revolutionaries occupy US, killed its citizens, sent them to Syberia, stole from them, kept them under awful regime for many decades? No? than it is not the same.. for my people these monuments is like picture of person who raped them, on their own night table. Nothing but a scar in our memory. Only mistake is that they where not removed sooner.
Do you have culture or identity as Ukrainian???? You are just a bunch of people veered of course in a confused and just a puppet and vassal state..... We all know who was responsible for bucha. The coup d'etat in 2014 and the killing of 1400 your own people in the Eastern part of Ukraine. Seems you have forgotten history just summarized it up for you
In the Baltics, the Soviets committed mass genocide and attempted colonization. I personally think these monuments should either be destroyed or relocated to a museum/park detailing the victims of communism and Russian occupation
Ain't nothing wrong with that, the Americans toppled a big as king George III statue in New York after they declared independence from Britain, and look at them now, the US is doing just fine, and the Brits don't seem to be mad about it either. It is now Ukraine's revolutionary war of independence against russia, so let them do what they see fit with their statues in their own country and worry about the lenin statues in yours, germany.
@@numbersix8919 The Soviets destroyed countless markers of History when they overthrew the czars and destroyed most of the churches in Russia and other nations.
Headline:“How should history be remembered?” “Because that’s history- not what happened, but what people make themselves believe must have happened.” - Alistair Cooke
As it happened to Italy, in my hometown: better to place them all, in a Museum or a dedicated Area, where you can go explain why all of these things mattered in the past and why back then and now, are controversial. You save the monument(s), you educate generations. But yeah, after years of living in Poland, this idea should be ALWAYS asked from local authorities to locals living there, in before making ANY decision
It's a nuanced question to answer. Should we tear down Roman architecture because they conquered many other nations and peoples. Should we tear down their culture and monuments because of their bad deeds. Certainly Rome itself erased many cultures themselves. Or should we preserve their culture for the achievements they made, and preserve it as an important part of the history of the nation and it's people. But I guess it's that complex legacy that makes a nation what it is, the good and the bad. After all thats what history is, not back and white but nuanced shades of grey.
Why not. Churchill is everywhere in UK while most people in India think he was as bad as Hitlar. Cause the deaths of millions and was a racist asshole.
Exactly! They should put them in museums and not simply be destroyed because they are history, important history that much like with the Nazis we must remember so that we wont repeat the past.
Stop being a clown. Do you really think Nicholas II and his Hemophiliac son who lost to the Japanese in Russo Japanese war and to Willem II and his Imperial German army in WWII would have been able to defeat Hitler and the Werhmart in WWII or the Japanese in 1937? I don't think so. Furthermore, the Soviets could have stopped at the Soviet Polish border and signed a separate peace agreement with the Nazis instead of pushing all the way to Berlin. That would have saved millions and millions of Soviet lives, but unleash millions and millions of German soldiers led by the best German generals and officers to fight the Western allies in the West. What would have happened to Eastern European people then? Do you even know the diabolical plans the Nazis had for SLAVIC people of Eastern Europe? The only reason why there are Eastern European countries today is because of those tens of millions of Soviets who fought and those 27 million Soviets who sacrificed their lives in WWII, Period. Had those millions and millions of German soldiers on the Eastern front fallen upon the Western allies if the Soviets had signed a seperate peace agreement with the Nazis or had the USSR lost the war all of Europe would have been doomed.
I think the young blonde woman is being hypocritical. She wants to preserve these monuments as art because she recognizes the power and importance of art, yet she refuses to acknowledge the harm that the power of art can be used for like propaganda. Personally, I think they should choose which objects represent them today and the future they desire. Some might be destroyed but most will probably be preserved in museums and cemeteries, but perhaps they might alter some to make them their own. Like the crack on the friendship arch, Ukraine could cross out or otherwise shame certain parts, like individual names, to better portray past and present.
Isn't a either/or convo though. Some of the statues can be reworked, especially given a lot of the statues that directly touch on the Ukrainian experience during the Soviet Union. You've gotta keep in mind that historical memory is extremely controversial in Ukraine. There's the folks who have historical memories of WW2, and there's the folks that want to replace every Lenin statue with a Bandera statue. And even within these groups, there's splits on what parts of the history deserve to be recognized.
they already do that choosing though. the giant motherland statue also prominently displays the symbol of the old ukrainian SSR. and thats not coming down anytime soon.
@@moiseshuerta3984 when the successor state of the liberators are now the invaders and murderers, people have every right to reinterpret these monuments.
20 years ago I visited Moscow. There was, and probably still there is, a park where each of the Soviet Socialist Republics that formed the Soviet Union erected a monument to celebrate the achievements of communism with the name of the Republic (Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Belarus, ......). The monuments were huge, some richer than others (probably reflecting the size and wealthy of the Republic that built it). Now that most of those former Soviet Republics have turned against Russia it would be interesting to know the fate of those monuments too ....
Germans thought in a similar way to Ukrainians today when they decided to tear down the Palace of the Republic, the former DDR parliament building, in the early 2000s. Whatever its architectural merits, it was seen as a symbol of oppression.
What an interesting comparison. I think that it would be more correct to compare the current actions of Ukrainians with the actions of the allies who demolished the Nazi monuments of the Third Reich. Does it come across as awkward?
lol. it was a waste of money to tear that down. Hopefully it will be replaced by an islamic center. A good symbol for the direction to where Germany is headed right now. Being attacked with knives is the new liberty. Obeying the new muslim clan overlords is freedom. Banning pork from school canteens is the new tolerance. I want the wall back, sincerely, an East German.
It frustrates me to watch this because in the states we are having a similar conversation over statues that depict Confederate Soldiers from the U.S. Civil War. It is just so irritating because politicians are just using it as a wedge issue.
“Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it”. The soviets were not only russians, it was a state composed of 15 republics with more than 100 different nationalities. You cannot just deny almost 70 years of common history filled with tragedies on the one hand, but also glorious victories and accomplishments on the other. And why no one is bothered by the ultranationalist slogan “Ukraine above all” while the statue is being demolished? 2:36
You can start expressing your disapproval or approval of soviet monument removal after the soviets have deported or imprisoned around 280k of your countrymen, have exterminated over 20k freedom fighters and dissidents. Lithuania for one, does not need these monuments, history books are enough to remember the history.
I wonder if that German historian say that to a Crimean tatars who were removed to Siberia and the Koreans in the Soviet union who were force to move places they didn't wanted
@@DWDocumentary Your documentary is so amazing and pleasing.Thank you so much.But can you tell me your personal opinion about the USSR?After all, the communisim in 19th century is so advanced.And why it became so awful after it is operated in the eastIs Blanquisme?
You know, yeah, manically biased as it was. I haven't taken so many notes from a vid about Orcraine since last year, viewing Oliver Stone's monumental documentary, "Revealing Ukraine, 2019."
History is not about having the choice of remembering, forgetting or what are their political views and beliefs. It's a reminder for us of how important history is and how we can avoid it from repeating it again.
If you are not from eastern Europe I don’t blame you that you don’t understand. Russians are deeply proud of that period of the past, having these monuments give them assurance that they can feel this way.
@@kristinesaulite7945 Although it is hard, people must remember for the better and move on or else it would occur again just like in most countries that have been colonised by other foreign superpowers.We also have lots of historical statues and monuments of our former occupiers. So, I can understand from your point of view but it is significant that we must remember.
@@josh_ewe i think russians are the ones who need to remember who they occupy, we dont need these statues, believe me, we never forget what they do despite if their gouls stand on a pedestal or not
@Broski Snowski who suffer the most will deeply remember more than who not or less suffer that human after all when you remove or destroy all of it what is left is hate anger for everyone who willing to revenge and repeat all over again.
Being from the South East of the United States, I can't help but draw parallels to our own statue situation. It also makes me think to the past..... waay past. How many statues have been toppled over the millennium by successive generations for their own reasons.
South East of the US is a little bit different, as those were put up long long after the events that took place, as part of historical revisionism. Tearing down Confederate statues is fine, expanding that to tearing down statues of the founding fathers is utter nonsense though. Luckily most of that idiocy has been held at bay.
@@melonbobful They are correct though that the vast majority of confederate monuments you see in the streets were put up well after the fact to help perpetuate the Lost Cause. They're monuments to a false narrative, not monuments to real history.
I’m from Springfield, Illinois, home of Abraham Lincoln and also a large cemetery on the site of a Civil War POW camp. I took a trip through multiple states a few years ago and encountered 3 Confederate memorials. One was a life size statue of a soldier in Morganton, North Carolina, similar in size to a Union monument I saw a few weeks before in northern Illinois - that one didn’t bother me. One was the ostentatious column in Franklin, Tennessee, a few blocks north of a battleground - that monument did bother me because it’s so large. The third one was in Paducah, Kentucky, and that one made me angry because Paducah was never under Confederate control, it’s actually commemorating the enemy.
Well, for one thing, the confederate statues were built in honor of losers, who wanted to keep human beings in chains and went to war for that they were losers The Soviet memorials were built in honor of the saviors from fascism context is important. They were created by the victors so they should stay. The red army, and the Soviet union did more than the British or the Americans in helping see if you’re up, and possibly the world from fascists where, in rages me to see the arrogant belligerence of the Ukrainians, thinking that they can go to any country whatsoever and dismantle a monument when their own people or part of that very red army the Soviet union was not a pro Russian state it was made up of multiple backgrounds and nationalities very different from the Russian empire, and the Russian federation Russia didn’t emerge as its own independent country until after the Soviet collapse
You are right, there are pictures of them on the internet, that is enough to remember. Also, that "blonde" girl, is she retarded? seriously, some people....
@09:18 she just explained in a few seconds why we are against keeping colonizers' statues in Africa too. The other side says its history and you cannot erase it but those statues represent our history being erased , a sig n of victory and control , a reminder that we still own you .
Above the demolished double statue in Kyjiw is a steel bow also symbolising that connection. Ukrainians already some years ago painted a "crack" on it with black paint, at 12 o'clock. That was the beginning.
What history? How did the Nazis from the «forest brothers » kill the Soviet people of Lithuania? Or maybe how your bourgeoisie exploited you in 1917-1940 and has been exploiting you now since 1990? Don't worry, progress can't be stopped, it can only be slowed down, so World socialism and Communism (a commonwealth without a state, class, gender, sexual and racial oppression, as well as the high development of science) will come and ALL MANKIND will finally get REAL freedom, and not oppression and bourgeois false freedom, where your freedom is limited only by choice another exploiter every 4-7 years
@@JamesStoltzMan i live in Brasil and i have no Idea what most statues here are for. Statues can be good looking but history IS in The books and old itens( knifes , bows etc) but They should be mostly in museum
@@samfire3067 you don't understand because you don't care. Many others do and if people will destroy all the memorials, it will easy to rewrite the history as you want.
On the one hand one cannot tolerate having monuments to the murderous regimes that have ruled for so long being on display in prominence places. On the other hand destroying such works is erasing historical record. Which puts one and the same footing as those like the Soviet Union and now Russia that have been doing that for a hundred years. In general I'm against the destruction of art works and the editing of reality. I propose removing the monuments but preserving them in a museum some place. A museum of shame. A museum that explains what really happened.
I think due to the war it’s perfectly reasonable to see these statues in a new light especially when it comes to Ukraine. It’s their soil and first the Soviet Union and then the war were forced upon them. National sovereignty, identity and interests were aggressively ignored. Tearing them down is ok during wartime but they should still be preserved somewhere.
Honestly, I would like it if those statues could be reworked versus anything else. A lot of this is Ukrainian history as much as its Soviet history - It would be better to try and modify what presently exists so that it emphasizes Ukraine's history rather than simply tearing it down and either leaving it empty or trying to impose something completely foreign.
National sovereignty, identity and geopolitical interests of russia as a nation were being ignored and repressed since the creation of the union but hey they didnt complain back then nor after it
Some that can be moved should be moved out to museums not in center of main areas. I was sort of agreeing with Elmira at the beginning but then when she said the “crack” on the arch doesn’t look good, I’m like, “that’s the point, you are valuing the “artistic” value over the meaning.” Then I’m against her. If moving and storing is not a choice then demolishing is the next best option
Which you accidentally bring out another interesting point. Should graffiti and damage to a statue be be preserved if it happened during a significant event?
@@crosstraffic187 I suppose you don't view archaeology in high regard then. And you probably don't even think that Sumerian society existed, considering that much of what we know about them and their laws come from their stelae and statues of their kings.
@@gregorymalchuk272 Are you comparing this to archaeology? Perhaps you can tell us what we can learn from the past by looking at one of these posed figures erected in metal on a pedestal.
@TOFKAS01 You need to read how genocidal European colonizers were and how many tens of millions they killed. India, the largest ex-British colony, today has better relations with Russia than with the UK or America. You know why? Because for one, your hero Churchill starved 4 million Indians to death in the 1940s. That's why so many in the UK wanted his statue removed.
Monuments can be symbols with varying purposes. And I would argue that the old soviet symbols are more about stamping the place as theirs, then they are about commemorating war dead. Plus, the soviet union no longer exists. So, pull them down, or regulate those you deem worthy to keep to museums where you can put context to them. And it allows the various states to erect their own monuments to honour their war dead their own way. For me this is just another necessary step in the collapse of the soviet empire. Which remember, no longer exists. The soviet union is gone, and its monuments are now without an owner. The states they exist in can do whatever they want with them.
Outstanding it taught me things I didn't know and I'm always interested in learning new history in the world I like all people around the world I pray that you'll be peace in this war this senseless war will come to an end all these people suffering May our Lord Our Father protecting
My grandparents were born in 1940s where India achieved independence and the second world war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Unions... And my brother was born in 1990,where the collapse of the Soviet Unions..
I disagree on dismantling,whether the meaning behind them represent good or bad it shows how humanity good/ bad and how easily we can be swayed, I truly don't believe that they are ment to Immortalize the person or movement they are there iN my opinion to Immortalize that time in history so that future generations can have an insight to the Social and political Implications that they represent History is history good or bad and should be remembered
I emphasize with how many Ukrainians feel about Soviet monuments. I had a similar feeling when I was in the siege museum in Derry. It made the British empire looked triumphant and great. But it was filled with the looted relics of other peoples and it felt like it was glorifying the British empire and their destruction of indigenous cultures under British rule.
'That is because the British culture is superior to the other cultures they conquered'. This is not the case for the Russians, for they are inferior to everyone! (This is a joke and is meant to be sarcastic). Unfortunately it is the thinking within many Nationalist circles!
@@acruiox Because I didn’t want to get deported and get banned from Europe for property damage which is what countries tend to do if you get arrested. Plus, I feel that any plundered cultural artifacts from other nations should not be destroyed but sent back to their homelands.
lol. You will still work for a minimum wage and be regarded as worth less than a Westerner. They laugh at you, as you eat yourselves from the inside out for a handful of dollars and some McDonald's.
I can appreciate wanting to preserve history without glorifying atrocities. It’s the difference between a war memorial that lists the names of the dead from a town and a statue that glorifies the regime that they were sent to fight for.
Imagine statues of Adolf Hitler or Nazi Germany soldiers in 2023, say in Belgium or France. After all, he did conquer those countries. And some belgians or french being dissatisfied with removing them.
I am positively surprised about the number of comments emphezising the point of having the duty to honor history . I guess most of the level headed commentators are being German . I am not guessing... but almost certain ,that mainly Germans and Russians learned from history... while Brits,Poles,Balts etc. are falling back into the old patterns without any hesitation .
Russians never learn. Poles and Baltics simply know USSR was no better than nazi Germany for them. USSR invaded Poland just 17 days after Hitler and USSR was Hitler's ally till 1941.
Thank you for such a great and interesting documentary. I like how you showed the situation among European countries with soviet monuments. As a Ukrainian, I agree that soviet monuments should be toppled and kept in the special history museum, not on the streets of cities, especially now. But I really like that the video showed people with different points of view that you can listen to them and make personal minds and attitudes to things.
the Kiev metro is a cultural heritage of the USSR, an architectural monument, like the Moscow metro, one of the most beautiful in the world, probably, ukrainians suffer when driving in the metro, urgently need to bury the metro.
@@MrBell-iq3sm well depends how they are told. Either way it all comes down to education and values under which you are raised. Not to some random structures put there in the world
I think there's a difference between forcing people to become subordinates and stripping them off their right to exist. You know what happened to Poland until the collapse of the Soviet Union. How different would this period have turned out if Nazi Germany had been Poland's hegemon? Vastly different, that's for sure.
ruski mir give your country half of their historical territory. Can you give me example when NAZI Germany do something like this? May be should reject all of preferences that give Ruski mir occupation? Sorry of that question, 2006 its your year of birth?
Poles are prostitutes who have been separated by many countries including Germany, Austria, Russia. But they remember only Russia. You know, Russia didn't kill Jews in Warsaw. If you are talking about the fact that the Russian invaders, tell the millions of Jewish corpses in the West that they were lucky to remain under Germany. The Poles themselves are to blame, because they trusted the West in 1939. It was necessary to be friends with Russia. And now the Polish economy would be on a par with Germany if the Poles hadn't demolished Russian monuments. They would get cheap gas, oil, metals and produce the best goods in the world. But the development of Europe is not beneficial for the USA and England, they have already abandoned the European Union
I understand the need to tear down these statues, but what many are not willing to realize is the fact that the spirit of what they represent is still present. Even if we remove the physical representation, we cannot remove the ideology, just look at the nazi movements. The ideology did not disappear, despite the fact that every symbol, book or art is banned
I think eventually after the war, some of these monuments might be remade, in a reimagined way, celebrating Ukrainian history, instead of russian oppression, but currently, i see why many people dont like em
I visited the Soviet monument in Riga and thought it was quite ugly, but it was breathtaking the size and brutalist style it was super cool to imagine your standing there with the old guard in 1983 in the LSSR.
That big ugly thing are gone now, For most Latvians it's like a having Nazi Monument next to Big Ben, or Elizabeth II monument next to O’Connell Monument in Dublin.
These monuments were erected to remind the people that they were now the subjects of the Soviet Empire. Resistance is futile. We will erase your history and culture and send anyone who resists to Siberia if you are lucky. All these nations remember the occupation.
It’s interesting how I’ve seen this documentary first in the Spanish DW and there’s a good part of the comments against the demolishing of monuments, and here almost everyone understands why they do that. To honor something is different than remembering the history. I think it’s awesome they stop honouring all of this.
I remember when in Poland we were renaming streets and trying to find a balance between erasing Soviet occupation and preserving history while demolishing monuments. Lots of hard discussions and disagreements. Not easy things to do.I understand various points of view to me all Soviet should be taken down but that me. Everyone feels differently
The Soviet leader Comrade Leonid Brezhnev & Soviet space engineer Sergie korolev are Ukrainian. There's many Ukrainian poets , story writers, movie director, producers and even many musicians since Russian Empire to Soviet Union ( USSR) & till today.
I mean there were so many gorgeous buildings demolished in the Kliningrad oblast when soviets overtook it and also so many in Poland when Prussia stopped ecisting so i do support this decision of Ukrainians.
75 years ago, on the night of August 27 and 30, 1944, the British Air Force raided Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad), which killed more than 6,000 civilians and destroyed the historic city center.
Young, Woke and of course deserving to have voices about their future country. What a complex situation. Good luck to Ukrainian youth, I truly hope they still have a country to call home.
People think they can just imagine whatever meaning they want for this monuments, and demolish them, for a sake of hate, and rewriting history, forgetting the core idea behind this monument, or actually doesn't care about core, their interpretation is more important than reality behind.
The core idea of these monuments is Russian imperialism, a reminder that they can always rule over us and they can always conquer us again. No!! Never again!! 😡 Never!!!
@@Registeredprofile The reality is those core ideas in practice led to the deaths of millions of people, regardless of how nice they sounded on paper. That being said I do not support the destruction of monuments in any context. Also, no need to be condescending.
They have indeed been moved to a monument graveyard. You are free to go and look at them there anytime you wish. I'm sure, if you really want, you can pay the quarry contractor to take a few pieces away with you to stick in your garden, if you are so inclined. Or look out for them in their new home as part of a motorway strut or multi-story carpark - living art!
As Mines stated. Most if not all east block countries and the baltics have started removing this stuff to various museums. I have seen a few. You can go and look at the collections of Stalins and Lenins and what not, all standing around staring at each other with serious faces. But you have to want to see it. You are not forced to see it every time you go downtown.
Grutas park in Lithuania is a very interesting monument park founded in the late 1990s with Soviet monuments taken from all over Lithuania. It preserves the monuments and educates people about why they were put up. People can then choose to visit these monuments if they like, without being confronted by them all over their cities.
I think Elmira makes good points. However, the arch was ugly before the crack though. While even less esthetically pleasing with the crack, considering the context, I think it's an overall improvement
as a person from an ex soviet country the truth is ussr or communism isnt viewed as a genuine ideology of communism its treated more like extension of russian imperialism lot of us didnt want communism or ussr but were forced to "join" so thats why due to current geopolitical situation with russia, we ve decided to remove such things
lol. Forced to join. Kinda like the EU, right. Who does not join gets a nice color revolution, or whoever does not obey America....gets their country bombed to smithereens. Ask Iraq.
It is also important to note that many soldiers in a nation like Ukraine died fighting the German forces. In my mind these statues also symbolize their efforts as well alongside other ex-Soviet states. Ofc such statues in other countries that were not even Communist at the time of the WW2 having such statue is mostly symbolizing the imperialism other than anything else.
@@xyeB There is actually no evidence about that so please keep your personal opinion or some conspiracy theories to yourself. There are millions upon millions of Ukrainians who served in the Soviet army and died so what you are saying in no way shape or form denies the incredible sacrifice done by the Ukrainian people in the fight against the Nazis. Not to mention the extreme condition these people suffered from the other mass murderer in Moscow. Unfortunately Russia is a home to many mass murderers up until this very day
An interesting point of view, but there is a question. What if the country became socialist in the process, as a result of elections, for example, Czechoslovakia. The population of the country chose socialism, built a number of monuments during the epoch, but then refused socialism. Does this mean that these monuments should be demolished? Monuments not of the occupiers, but of great people from their country?
You can photograph and document the memorials, and teach in the textbooks what crimes were commited and how people propogandized and tried to rewrite history with such memorials. They do not need to be forgotten. The monuments are part of the crime. But you don't need to keep promoting the crimes by letting the offensive monuments stand. Start healing. Tear it down and put something uplifting in it's place.
On a visit to Hungary in 2016, we visited a park with all the demolished Soviet statues from around Budapest. Like a graveyard for statues, it was fascinating.
Me too, its called memento Park :)
we have one too here in Taiwan for Chiang Kai-Shek!
Что поставили вместо советских памятников, памятники "нацистским войнам освободителям"?))
that's how freedom dies.
I've been there aswell, it's a fascinating place! Being able to get so close to these huge statues was awesome
Lithuanian here. Got no issue with certain monuments being left to stand. Some represent regular people or locals, they can be maintained. Monuments that glorify the occupation or random Russian communists (in non Russian nations) can be destroyed or put into museum.
The pentagram...
Here is the thing my man, they dont represent russian communists but regular soldiers and many of the red army's soldier were infact ukrainians not just russians and btw most soviet leader werent even russian to begin with not only that the first bolsheviks were almost all jews
Slovak girl likes this
You know there are Ukranian communists as well.
@@josephstalin9357 Who cares?????they don't like them
Her argument on the equestrian statue, oh boy...
He might be criminal but "It is beautiful and if we remove it, the place will be empty". Sadly, instead of offering a counter argument, that lady is just a joke.
Difficult to say, as someone who is from a country once ruled by the british empire as so many countries were, should we tear down all the momuments the british built?
I imagine this same situation can be said about many countries around the world who were liberated or seperated from their respective empires like Britain, France, Germany and of course Russia.
Like i imagine the Irish might have a different view of british rule than say the Canadians or Austrailians.
And the tearing down of monuments like this after the collapse of a major empire is nothing new. Its happened all throughout history as empires come and go and regimes and idealogies change.
Ultimately i guess its upto the nations themselves to decide what they want their identity to be.
Its a nuanced question. There is no such thing as perfect morals. Every Empire and nation has done terrible things, be it the British Empire, French Empire, Spanish Empire, or even the Russian Empire.
Should we tear down Roman architecture because they invaded and counquered many peoples. Because of all their bad deeds. Or should we preserve them as an important part of the history of the nation?
Most of history and indeed the legacy of most nations and empires is often not all black and white, history is of course nuanced in that way.
@@livethefuture2492 Of course not,but you're missing a point.Ukraine is being attacked right now by Russia.Roman Empire hasn't and isn't attacking anyone anymore.Same goes for the Brits
If people of the world could only understand that this is all part of the WEF agenda. This war and everything associated with history to be erased from humanity. By tearing all statues down is the marker of what they want. We are walking blindly right into it. What they want will be statues of transhumanistic garbage! Statues of Bill Gates Klaus Schwab and robots. Watch and see it’s coming. Wake up world!!!
Як ви це порівнюєте взагалі? Британія дала вам квиток до цивилізації і теперь не намагається вас завойувати а навіть навпаки, ви тепер завойовуєте її зсередини. І у нас взагалі інша ситуація, де нам говорять що ми не існуємо, що ми один народ. Що з вами не так?
@@Self_Sabotage87 🤡
The monuments may be preserved as history, but they must not be revered. Having stalin's words in Berlin's center in gold is showing reverence. That stuff could be moved to a warehouse-museum where appropriate context can be provided for them.
Capitalist monuments should also be removed. The vile hand of psychopathic capitalists should not be revered. Countless people suffer and die under the brutal capitalist regime still to this day
@@andrewgodly5739 lol
Or to a rock crusher and a foundry to reconstruct Ukraine!
You're very much right
@@andrewgodly5739 tell me where is capitalis monument?? , capitalis doesn't need monument.
Only stupid socialis need monument for the purpose of brainwashing..
These monuments should be preserved even when they are dismantled. Moved them to a museum. History should never be forgotten.
Would not want the risk with possibility that some day someone will want to install them back where they been.
„We didn’t become a Soviet Republic.
The indelible evidence to that our churches and cathedrals still stand today.
Hungary was stabbed in the back by the conspiracies in Budapest.
The country was handed over to our arch enemies, the Bolsheviks.
But our grandfathers did not kneel”
Fűrer Orbán
Cannot agree more - this is erasing history and many other "regimes" in the past have done it, with the result being that today there is so little left about what they destroyed and the history of what was destroyed that we have to 3D model them...
Well if you sit in history for too long you become putin... Ofc we should know the history but we need to focuss on future. Kids are future ❤
Tell that to Adolf Putin
I would never judge this people for toppling this stuff. Regardless of Ukranians being part of some of this monuments the reality is that Russians allways saw themselves as the "true and only Soviets". Other nations in the USSR were there just to serve their purpose, as we can all clearly see on how they see Ukraine.
Yes, history should always be preserved, but not displayed for the public to see if that history is very questionable. Bring it into a museum or sanctuary, etc.. preserve it out of the public eye with the proper education that comes with it as opposed to plaques commemorating a man responsible for the death of 40 million people. This doesn't just go for Soviet error things as well, this is just in general. History should always be preserved, not necessarily glorified.
This is a very objective report by DW, showing arguments from all sides. I like it. As a Pole myself, we also demolished many Soviet memorials, the only thing left now are the soviet cementaries. Personally I don't see how these monuments should stay in important places. The Soviets enforced an imperial rule on Poland after WW2, so I think these statues should be moved to special museums, where people could learn about imperialism and it's causes.
@@SOURAV-jw7kk Bot, you are just 2 months old and already trolling.
@@Ghreinos lol 😂
Soviet soldiers saved old Krakow from blowing up by Nazies.
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@rb2964 Oh bot. Russians rule mean backwardness and violence. So happy we got rid of them. It would be best if they stay in russia and not spill over their backwardness to surrounding countries like they have tendency to do
There is also the problem that Putin claims to be the successor to the USSR and all those statues osf Soviet soldiers and Stalin etc. are basically still staking a claim on former iron pact countries.
what a salad.😂😂
@@morho9422 Russia is the successor ask all the other SSR if the wanted the huge debt burden of the soviet union russia took it all really they all should of had a share of the huge debt also the decision making centre was the kremlin
The UN claim that Russia is the sucessor state of USSR, so this is why they have a seat in the security council. This don't is the same as saying that Russia is the USSR, it was a union of several republics, Ukraine was one of these, as Kazakhstan or so on, and is not true saying that the russians rules the country, as many of the Soviet leaders were not really Russians, as Stalin, a georgian.
Turning down monuments built by this union of peoples that fought and won against Nazi Germany say more about who is demolishing them than about who built it.
Putin wasn't even president when Russia became the successor of the USSR lol. Also Russia became the successor so it could keep the USSR seat at the UN
Putin claims to be the successor of Zar Nicholas II.
Isn't this a disrespect to the people who fought in WW2 for CCCP?
Compelling and haunting. Thank you, DW.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
It’s presented here as the tanks and monuments in Estonia were destroyed/demolished. They were not, they were just moved to museums. Completely different thing.
So where are all the monuments in Narva apart from the tank huh? Thrown into the gutter by those savages. We only discussed the tank but they violently tore down others without asking for permission. We mourn that day and will continue to forever because its clear that was an attempt to exercise power and rewrite history.
@@PaperReaper they are in museums around the country, like Ajaloomuusem, Eesti Sõjamuusem where they were taken. Some were also taken to smaller museums. Nothing was destroyed, no history was erased like the soviets did. The Estonians don’t destroy history or rewrite it in a way that fits them, they are not Russians. No statues were taken down “without permission”, they are state owned, and if Estonian people decided that they had to go, then they had to go, the state can’t go against peoples wishes.
@@tankart3645 nope, most of em were DESTROYED. Like nothing but trees (Grafov monument, the memorial plack in front of the Russian border on our square etc). Those monuments were under the city of Narva which was still formalizing the move of them. But the government removed them heavy handedly. Please check your facts and not only on ERR or Delfi. Those are state sponsored outlets. And I am not talking Russian media either, they also don't know the whole story.
Only the tank was moved to Viimsi, which in of itself absurd since it could have remained in the city. But noooo, needs to be removed and all.
@@tankart3645
Poor Ukraine...
@@overdrivelzma.9219why do you think so, imagine to have 100+ monument's for Pushkin and only two for Lesya Ukrainka and Taras Shevchenko. We have such situation in all our cities in Ukraine and I don't think we need those monuments for Pushkin what exactly he did for us I don't remember anything, he is only a symbol of russian occupation.
Id love to see all of these monuments placed in a single location, almost like a forest of Soviet monuments that tell the history of each piece
they did that in Lithuania,its park in a forrest called Grutas Park
They also did that in Hungary
Вы, я так понимаю, из страны, которой не коснулась война. Так вот. Земля в каждом городе восточной Европы полита кровью советских солдат. За освобождение каждого города от нацистов отдали жизни тысячи наших солдат. Тысячи советских детей не родились, потому что их потенциальные отцы остались лежать в земле этих городов. Нет советской семьи, которой бы не коснулась та война.
Эти памятники поставлены в тех городах, где лежат кости, погибших за эти города.
А вы хотели бы собрать эти памятники в одном месте, оторвать их от того места, где лежат те, в честь кого они поставлены. Вы хотите видеть лес памятников, музей скульптуры. Это от того, что вы слишком далеки от всего этого. Вам всё это чуждо. Война не коснулась вас.
@@ДмитрийТихомировСССР most of your "soviet" areas belong to another country. Its their blood that was shed, in the name of a force that did nothing but suppress and replace their culture, identify and government.
Come and visit the 'Memento Park' in Budapest.
Very good, nuanced documentary. Thanks DW!
Thank you for your comment!
We have this issue in the US with old Confederate monuments in the South. I always found these monuments charming but this gives a little different perspective.
We also dismantled numerous Soviet monuments in Mongolia, as they were excessively abundant. Regrettably, the quantity of these monuments surpassed even that of our revered Genghis Khan memorials.
You can see what Ukraine is facing. If you don't learn , Russia will muscle your shit country.
without the Soviets, you would have been absorbed into China....well your memory is pretty short.
Btw, what is the attitude to Genghis Khan in Mongolia today? In fact what he was doing - capturing other nations' lands just the way russia is doing today ( and with much more atrocities) .
I also recollect the monument to Alexander the Great in Skopje, Macedonia, who was a capturer too. I have doubts that it's appropriate in today's world to have monuments in honour of capturers in the cities. What is your opinion?
@@helenivanova5440 "It's only good when we do it"
@@helenivanova5440 completely agree, Genghis Khan was a genocide. Even if those were different times, murder, rape, plunder, abuse and brutality are not the type of things we need to commemorate and idealize
I'm surprised this documentary didn't mention Lithuania's Gruto Parkas. It preserves the monuments, but in a way that properly mocks the brutal regime that inflicted them on Lithuania.
I actually think Germany's own war memorials have the best approach. They mourn the dead, but also condemn the regime and ideology they fought for. They strike the right balance between rememberance and remourse.
As a German myself i simply think we shouldn't forget, i had nothing to do with what happend during a time when my Father wasn't even alive and im past 40... but we can learn from our past not to make the same mistakes over and over and over again... hiding the History... avoid teaching History... beeing afraid of facing History... will result in forgetting the History and thus History repeats itself. And nobody absolutly nobody with atleast 1 1/2 Braincells wants this.
karl Marx is crying in his grave 😂😂😂
Lol. Yeah. Destroying national identity and raising your children in guilt is a great approach.
@@Saiputera Good. :)
Of course, they didn't mention Gruto Parkas. Baltic history is not well understood and countries like Germany don't care to learn. Instead they try to tell us what to do or even worse - listen to the side of Russian aggression.
Ukraine woman: I can’t imagine us to have for example in Ukraine some monument’s With hitler name.
Ukraine: monument with bandera that committed genocide of innocent poland people, Jews and ussr people. (Totally hero)
Also helped nazi people
That actually never happened, well done bot
But yes, USSR people suck
Some monuments could be preserved in context others recycled for true beauty in the public square , Peace to All 🐾💯🐾
Monuments to remember those who died and suffered is ok. But monument to rule and show power - No.
Why not? Whats wrong with power, strength and might? These are virtues. Being a victim isnt an accomplishment. Everybody can be a victim, but not everybody can be successful.
It's not that black and white. Let's say my guys like to associate themselves with "wisdom". Wisdom is clearly a virtue, nothing wrong with that. And now my guys conquer your guys and erect a statue of wisdom in your capitol. See how the lines blur?
@@armingleiner5292 Yeah well that power is long gone so these monuments can be torn down , rightfully .
@@armingleiner5292 thats a great quote now that i think about it
And your opinion that those monuments are here to show power is based on this girls opinion?
I think theres huge difference between Soviet war memorials which are for the war dead, vs monuments which specifically commemorate the soviet union
USSR was no better than nazis for Eastern Europeans. USSR invaded Poland just 17 days after Hitler.
@@Blanka1100 And Poland also annexed Czechoslovakian land during the partition.
@@BlitzOfTheReich Russians, unlike others, never own up to their own guilt. Russian history books it is a matrix. They think WWII started in 1941 and they were liberators. They were anything but.
@boconnor401 they’re both equally atrocious ideologies and historical regimes
...Yeah. Okay. So what?
This thought-provoking documentary delves into the complex debate surrounding Soviet monuments in Eastern Europe.The film encourages us to reflect on the importance of acknowledging history while navigating the delicate balance between memory and moving forward. An insightful and timely exploration of a controversial topic.Thank you!!
As a history nerd and lover of art I find it sanding that I won't be able to visit Europe to see theses monument I've always found them interesting and have wanted to see them but I'm still a teenager in school so I don't really have the ability to travel yet but they're all being torn down before I can even go to see them
Then visit some museums. These monuments are a reminder of opresssion, occupation and suffering and not there to satisfy the needs of history nerds.
We had bloody war in Ex Yugoslavia , but huge monuments ( Spomeniks ) stayed intact . They are part of history and landmarks and no way someone is going to destroy them. People even renovate them
Not really. Some in Istria probably weren't, but the majority were destroyed. There are almost no statues thet depict any communist hero/solder left. Except Tito's in Kumrovec. I see in Ukraine's war a lot of similarities with the war in Croatia. Even regarding the statues.
It depends on which part of exyugoslavia you are looking at.
really ? Serbs actually renovating stuff 😂
They were removing statues just a few years ago in your country on the news
because yogoslavia fought nazi themselves, they should be proud. It is very different in countries occupied by nazi/Japanese, later, "liberated" by allies. They not only did not participate in the process. or even fought the war for the wrong side, they see both side as invaders.
A very interesting documentary. In my opinion, contextualisation is key on this issue. Although in the case of huge monuments that loom over entire cities, there is justification for removal as they are landmarks of triumphalism over the modern populations that have moved on.
It’s like removing the Statue of Liberty because of the "terror" of the French revolution...Keep the large monument and change the shield to that of a trident!
And it’s not like they are destroying them!!! They are carefully and taking these “Monuments” down. She must not understand what they actually stand for - and how many people suffered ?!?! Scary cause this is how a lot of people are things. pain for many people, and preserving those “monuments” - s. They aren’t erasing history. Just not displaying Stalin relics anymore. This girl shows exactly Russian thinking.
@@lindsayc42386
This will bring more pain in future. They have destroyed itself.
@@anthonypazana6105 did French revolutionaries occupy US, killed its citizens, sent them to Syberia, stole from them, kept them under awful regime for many decades? No? than it is not the same.. for my people these monuments is like picture of person who raped them, on their own night table. Nothing but a scar in our memory. Only mistake is that they where not removed sooner.
Do you have culture or identity as Ukrainian???? You are just a bunch of people veered of course in a confused and just a puppet and vassal state..... We all know who was responsible for bucha. The coup d'etat in 2014 and the killing of 1400 your own people in the Eastern part of Ukraine. Seems you have forgotten history just summarized it up for you
In the Baltics, the Soviets committed mass genocide and attempted colonization.
I personally think these monuments should either be destroyed or relocated to a museum/park detailing the victims of communism and Russian occupation
I think there's one influence missing...that of Trent Reznor and Atticis Ross on whomever chose some of the background tracks for this video.
Ain't nothing wrong with that, the Americans toppled a big as king George III statue in New York after they declared independence from Britain, and look at them now, the US is doing just fine, and the Brits don't seem to be mad about it either. It is now Ukraine's revolutionary war of independence against russia, so let them do what they see fit with their statues in their own country and worry about the lenin statues in yours, germany.
Exept that its a completely different story which has absolutly no similarities to this one
@@Silver_Prussian Actually the war in Ukraine is also about WW II. To do it over so the "nationalists" are the winners.
Yes which this story the fact that monuments need to be taken down rings more true then the other one
@@numbersix8919 The Soviets destroyed countless markers of History when they overthrew the czars and destroyed most of the churches in Russia and other nations.
@@serronserron1320 Well, if they were wrong to do it, two wrongs don't make a right. BTW most churches were-repurposed or left as is, not destroyed.
Headline:“How should history be remembered?” “Because that’s history- not what happened, but what people make themselves believe must have happened.” - Alistair Cooke
Historiography 101
As it happened to Italy, in my hometown: better to place them all, in a Museum or a dedicated Area, where you can go explain why all of these things mattered in the past and why back then and now, are controversial.
You save the monument(s), you educate generations.
But yeah, after years of living in Poland, this idea should be ALWAYS asked from local authorities to locals living there, in before making ANY decision
It's a nuanced question to answer. Should we tear down Roman architecture because they conquered many other nations and peoples. Should we tear down their culture and monuments because of their bad deeds. Certainly Rome itself erased many cultures themselves.
Or should we preserve their culture for the achievements they made, and preserve it as an important part of the history of the nation and it's people.
But I guess it's that complex legacy that makes a nation what it is, the good and the bad. After all thats what history is, not back and white but nuanced shades of grey.
@@livethefuture2492 Romans were 2000 years ago, at least the last 2 centuries is a diverse thing
I like the use of the Ost from Dunkirk in the opening scene!
Put them in museums like the swastika so people can remember what damage they caused, but do not leave them in public display.
Why not. Churchill is everywhere in UK while most people in India think he was as bad as Hitlar. Cause the deaths of millions and was a racist asshole.
Exactly! They should put them in museums and not simply be destroyed because they are history, important history that much like with the Nazis we must remember so that we wont repeat the past.
Stop being a clown.
Do you really think Nicholas II and his Hemophiliac son who lost to the Japanese in Russo Japanese war and to Willem II and his Imperial German army in WWII would have been able to defeat Hitler and the Werhmart in WWII or the Japanese in 1937?
I don't think so.
Furthermore, the Soviets could have stopped at the Soviet Polish border and signed a separate peace agreement with the Nazis instead of pushing all the way to Berlin.
That would have saved millions and millions of Soviet lives, but unleash millions and millions of German soldiers led by the best German generals and officers to fight the Western allies in the West.
What would have happened to Eastern European people then?
Do you even know the diabolical plans the Nazis had for SLAVIC people of Eastern Europe?
The only reason why there are Eastern European countries today is because of those tens of millions of Soviets who fought and those 27 million Soviets who sacrificed their lives in WWII, Period.
Had those millions and millions of German soldiers on the Eastern front fallen upon the Western allies if the Soviets had signed a seperate peace agreement with the Nazis or had the USSR lost the war all of Europe would have been doomed.
Karl Marx is crying in his grave seeing all these Soviet monuments destory 😂😂😂
that's really fucking stupid. museums are public display. their sole existence is that.
I think the young blonde woman is being hypocritical. She wants to preserve these monuments as art because she recognizes the power and importance of art, yet she refuses to acknowledge the harm that the power of art can be used for like propaganda. Personally, I think they should choose which objects represent them today and the future they desire. Some might be destroyed but most will probably be preserved in museums and cemeteries, but perhaps they might alter some to make them their own. Like the crack on the friendship arch, Ukraine could cross out or otherwise shame certain parts, like individual names, to better portray past and present.
The little blonde 'child of socialism' should decamp to Russia - and see how she does there. She is an affront to Ukraine.
Isn't a either/or convo though. Some of the statues can be reworked, especially given a lot of the statues that directly touch on the Ukrainian experience during the Soviet Union.
You've gotta keep in mind that historical memory is extremely controversial in Ukraine. There's the folks who have historical memories of WW2, and there's the folks that want to replace every Lenin statue with a Bandera statue. And even within these groups, there's splits on what parts of the history deserve to be recognized.
they already do that choosing though. the giant motherland statue also prominently displays the symbol of the old ukrainian SSR. and thats not coming down anytime soon.
Over 27 million SOVIET citizens died fighting and defeating Nat sism.
That is what those monuments celebrate.
@@moiseshuerta3984 when the successor state of the liberators are now the invaders and murderers, people have every right to reinterpret these monuments.
Topple everything wont change history.
20 years ago I visited Moscow. There was, and probably still there is, a park where each of the Soviet Socialist Republics that formed the Soviet Union erected a monument to celebrate the achievements of communism with the name of the Republic (Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Belarus, ......). The monuments were huge, some richer than others (probably reflecting the size and wealthy of the Republic that built it). Now that most of those former Soviet Republics have turned against Russia it would be interesting to know the fate of those monuments too ....
Germans thought in a similar way to Ukrainians today when they decided to tear down the Palace of the Republic, the former DDR parliament building, in the early 2000s. Whatever its architectural merits, it was seen as a symbol of oppression.
What architectural merits? That building was hideous and full of asbestos. The new schloss is much beautiful and safe.
What an interesting comparison. I think that it would be more correct to compare the current actions of Ukrainians with the actions of the allies who demolished the Nazi monuments of the Third Reich.
Does it come across as awkward?
How about the ZZ NATO Nazi building.
It was incredibly ugly. Thank God this filth is gone.
lol. it was a waste of money to tear that down. Hopefully it will be replaced by an islamic center. A good symbol for the direction to where Germany is headed right now. Being attacked with knives is the new liberty. Obeying the new muslim clan overlords is freedom. Banning pork from school canteens is the new tolerance. I want the wall back, sincerely, an East German.
I would like many of them to be preserved. However that big tower one makes a tad more sense to kill off.
It frustrates me to watch this because in the states we are having a similar conversation over statues that depict Confederate Soldiers from the U.S. Civil War. It is just so irritating because politicians are just using it as a wedge issue.
“Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it”. The soviets were not only russians, it was a state composed of 15 republics with more than 100 different nationalities. You cannot just deny almost 70 years of common history filled with tragedies on the one hand, but also glorious victories and accomplishments on the other.
And why no one is bothered by the ultranationalist slogan “Ukraine above all” while the statue is being demolished? 2:36
You can start expressing your disapproval or approval of soviet monument removal after the soviets have deported or imprisoned around 280k of your countrymen, have exterminated over 20k freedom fighters and dissidents. Lithuania for one, does not need these monuments, history books are enough to remember the history.
@@Radzas Tell me Lithuanian achievements in 30 years. Unaffordable housing, highest suicide rstes in Europe and many other problems.
@@eyeofterra but Russias' achievement is keeping up w occupations and genocides?
I wonder if that German historian say that to a Crimean tatars who were removed to Siberia and the Koreans in the Soviet union who were force to move places they didn't wanted
If it's metal, you can turn it into weapons to send the opposite message.
I was thinking that!
🤦🤦🤦
Yeah sure bud, nevermind continue living in your simpleton world while the adults handle important stuff
@@Silver_Prussian Like killing each other
"It's not about winning, it's about sending message"
Gaben
@@MrLoobu better than being naive as you.
For clarification, the T-34 in Narva, Estonia was moved to a war museum.18:03
Statues and monuments are not how we remember things, theyre more what we are encouraged to celebrate or morally aspire to.
History should be remembered in museums I think.
Then don't.
A really interesting and well made documentary 👍
Thanks for watching :)
@@DWDocumentary Your documentary is so amazing and pleasing.Thank you so much.But can you tell me your personal opinion about the USSR?After all, the communisim in 19th century is so advanced.And why it became so awful after it is operated in the eastIs Blanquisme?
@@DWDocumentary How much you get from american government for support ukranian nazism and hatred between people?
Karl Marx is crying in his grave seeing all these Soviet monuments destory 😂😂😂
You know, yeah, manically biased as it was. I haven't taken so many notes from a vid about Orcraine since last year, viewing Oliver Stone's monumental documentary, "Revealing Ukraine, 2019."
History is not written fairly, it is always written by the strong and the winners.
What about all the Stephan Bandera statues that still are being put up?
History is not about having the choice of remembering, forgetting or what are their political views and beliefs. It's a reminder for us of how important history is and how we can avoid it from repeating it again.
Europeans can't do that! Sorry.
If you are not from eastern Europe I don’t blame you that you don’t understand. Russians are deeply proud of that period of the past, having these monuments give them assurance that they can feel this way.
@@kristinesaulite7945 Although it is hard, people must remember for the better and move on or else it would occur again just like in most countries that have been colonised by other foreign superpowers.We also have lots of historical statues and monuments of our former occupiers. So, I can understand from your point of view but it is significant that we must remember.
@@josh_ewe i think russians are the ones who need to remember who they occupy, we dont need these statues, believe me, we never forget what they do despite if their gouls stand on a pedestal or not
@Broski Snowski who suffer the most will deeply remember more than who not or less suffer that human after all when you remove or destroy all of it what is left is hate anger for everyone who willing to revenge and repeat all over again.
We all sometimes can't handle history, the problem is by ignoring , it repeat it self
Being from the South East of the United States, I can't help but draw parallels to our own statue situation. It also makes me think to the past..... waay past. How many statues have been toppled over the millennium by successive generations for their own reasons.
South East of the US is a little bit different, as those were put up long long after the events that took place, as part of historical revisionism. Tearing down Confederate statues is fine, expanding that to tearing down statues of the founding fathers is utter nonsense though. Luckily most of that idiocy has been held at bay.
@@melonbobful They are correct though that the vast majority of confederate monuments you see in the streets were put up well after the fact to help perpetuate the Lost Cause. They're monuments to a false narrative, not monuments to real history.
I’m from Springfield, Illinois, home of Abraham Lincoln and also a large cemetery on the site of a Civil War POW camp. I took a trip through multiple states a few years ago and encountered 3 Confederate memorials. One was a life size statue of a soldier in Morganton, North Carolina, similar in size to a Union monument I saw a few weeks before in northern Illinois - that one didn’t bother me. One was the ostentatious column in Franklin, Tennessee, a few blocks north of a battleground - that monument did bother me because it’s so large. The third one was in Paducah, Kentucky, and that one made me angry because Paducah was never under Confederate control, it’s actually commemorating the enemy.
Well, for one thing, the confederate statues were built in honor of losers, who wanted to keep human beings in chains and went to war for that they were losers The Soviet memorials were built in honor of the saviors from fascism context is important. They were created by the victors so they should stay. The red army, and the Soviet union did more than the British or the Americans in helping see if you’re up, and possibly the world from fascists where, in rages me to see the arrogant belligerence of the Ukrainians, thinking that they can go to any country whatsoever and dismantle a monument when their own people or part of that very red army the Soviet union was not a pro Russian state it was made up of multiple backgrounds and nationalities very different from the Russian empire, and the Russian federation Russia didn’t emerge as its own independent country until after the Soviet collapse
You dont need statues and monuments, to remember a past. statues and monuments are there to glorify the past.
False
@@chade7669 Wow, you reply has blown me away, and made me rethink.
LOL :P
@@chade7669 dude is simping for mongolian rapist statues.
You are right, there are pictures of them on the internet, that is enough to remember. Also, that "blonde" girl, is she retarded? seriously, some people....
I mean, I guess?
@09:18 she just explained in a few seconds why we are against keeping colonizers' statues in Africa too. The other side says its history and you cannot erase it but those statues represent our history being erased , a sig n of victory and control , a reminder that we still own you .
Above the demolished double statue in Kyjiw is a steel bow also symbolising that connection. Ukrainians already some years ago painted a "crack" on it with black paint, at 12 o'clock. That was the beginning.
IMO, a crack on the arc of friendship is a wonderful addition in term of cost-effectiveness.
Lithuanian here, we removed the soviet monuments because we remember history.
What history? How did the Nazis from the «forest brothers » kill the Soviet people of Lithuania? Or maybe how your bourgeoisie exploited you in 1917-1940 and has been exploiting you now since 1990? Don't worry, progress can't be stopped, it can only be slowed down, so World socialism and Communism (a commonwealth without a state, class, gender, sexual and racial oppression, as well as the high development of science) will come and ALL MANKIND will finally get REAL freedom, and not oppression and bourgeois false freedom, where your freedom is limited only by choice another exploiter every 4-7 years
@boconnor401
Yes, if you understand history, you’d want them removed. History isn’t statues it’s recorded memory and collective experiences
@@blackwatertv7018 No, it means that you rewrite history instead.
@@JamesStoltzMan i live in Brasil and i have no Idea what most statues here are for.
Statues can be good looking but history IS in The books and old itens( knifes , bows etc) but They should be mostly in museum
@@samfire3067 you don't understand because you don't care. Many others do and if people will destroy all the memorials, it will easy to rewrite the history as you want.
On the one hand one cannot tolerate having monuments to the murderous regimes that have ruled for so long being on display in prominence places.
On the other hand destroying such works is erasing historical record. Which puts one and the same footing as those like the Soviet Union and now Russia that have been doing that for a hundred years. In general I'm against the destruction of art works and the editing of reality.
I propose removing the monuments but preserving them in a museum some place. A museum of shame. A museum that explains what really happened.
the wokists want them destroyed and us to pretend it never existed.
There are more statues of Lenin than there's museums.
@@td9250 Ah ha. OK. Then put them all into one huge museum. That might emphasise the madness of it all.
@@heater5979 I love this idea. Like the terracotta army but with Lenins.
@@td9250 Yes, yes. That is what I had in mind but I could not think of what it's called. Cheers.
I think removing them to different site can be solution. But destroying isnt good idea, because these statues still have cultural meaning
Good report!
I think due to the war it’s perfectly reasonable to see these statues in a new light especially when it comes to Ukraine. It’s their soil and first the Soviet Union and then the war were forced upon them. National sovereignty, identity and interests were aggressively ignored. Tearing them down is ok during wartime but they should still be preserved somewhere.
Honestly, I would like it if those statues could be reworked versus anything else. A lot of this is Ukrainian history as much as its Soviet history - It would be better to try and modify what presently exists so that it emphasizes Ukraine's history rather than simply tearing it down and either leaving it empty or trying to impose something completely foreign.
National sovereignty, identity and geopolitical interests of russia as a nation were being ignored and repressed since the creation of the union but hey they didnt complain back then nor after it
The USSR made the Ukraine a country.
eu freaks taliban minded
There are plans to replace some of those monuments with ones that represent Ukrainian experiences and people of that time.
Some that can be moved should be moved out to museums not in center of main areas. I was sort of agreeing with Elmira at the beginning but then when she said the “crack” on the arch doesn’t look good, I’m like, “that’s the point, you are valuing the “artistic” value over the meaning.” Then I’m against her. If moving and storing is not a choice then demolishing is the next best option
Which you accidentally bring out another interesting point. Should graffiti and damage to a statue be be preserved if it happened during a significant event?
Elmira is just a Naive person....
I went to the monument I'm Tiergarten last summer. It was bold and austere. I am glad i got photos of it in case it gets taken down.
The toppling of statues is just as much a part of them as erecting them. Statues rise and fall with ideas and wars.
No statue stands forever.
Exactly. Statues are not history. History cannot be erased.
A large amount of the historical information we have of ancient civilizations is associated with their statuary, genius.
@@gregorymalchuk272 Anybody who gets their history lessons from looking at a piece of metal on a concrete slab are simpletons.
@@crosstraffic187 I suppose you don't view archaeology in high regard then. And you probably don't even think that Sumerian society existed, considering that much of what we know about them and their laws come from their stelae and statues of their kings.
@@gregorymalchuk272 Are you comparing this to archaeology? Perhaps you can tell us what we can learn from the past by looking at one of these posed figures erected in metal on a pedestal.
wow, such a nice documentary , because its about specific issues thats people face today. Honestly i liked so much . Greetings from Pristina, Kosovo
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
@@DWDocumentary typical German propaganda
@Polish Gigachad i agree
@@DWDocumentary You are Welcome, :)
@Polish Gigachad where??? I m in Republic of Kosovo and it looks very Kosovarisch
The Sovjet Union is just not worth remembering in oversized statues or ugly monuments. Just in our common conciousmess under "never ever again"!
Soviet Union was much better than British Empire
The Soviet Union helped free 1.4 billion in Africa from European colonialism, which killed 15 million, in the Belgian Congo alone.
@@ncheedxx0109 Lol, in your dream.
@TOFKAS01 You need to read how genocidal European colonizers were and how many tens of millions they killed. India, the largest ex-British colony, today has better relations with Russia than with the UK or America. You know why? Because for one, your hero Churchill starved 4 million Indians to death in the 1940s. That's why so many in the UK wanted his statue removed.
@@ncheedxx0109 Go to the Gulag and look at it. You have to realise that russia and the sovjet-union are genozidal empires.
Monuments can be symbols with varying purposes. And I would argue that the old soviet symbols are more about stamping the place as theirs, then they are about commemorating war dead. Plus, the soviet union no longer exists. So, pull them down, or regulate those you deem worthy to keep to museums where you can put context to them. And it allows the various states to erect their own monuments to honour their war dead their own way. For me this is just another necessary step in the collapse of the soviet empire. Which remember, no longer exists. The soviet union is gone, and its monuments are now without an owner. The states they exist in can do whatever they want with them.
Outstanding it taught me things I didn't know and I'm always interested in learning new history in the world I like all people around the world I pray that you'll be peace in this war this senseless war will come to an end all these people suffering May our Lord Our Father protecting
This is a biased rendition of history. Don't depend on this to give you accurate information.
You can't rely on DW until they turn around and report on Nord Stream. They are in the pocket of the Rules-Based International Order.
Empires fall and drag their brands of civilization down with them.
Stewart Stafford
My grandparents were born in 1940s where India achieved independence and the second world war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Unions...
And my brother was born in 1990,where the collapse of the Soviet Unions..
I disagree on dismantling,whether the meaning behind them represent good or bad it shows how humanity good/ bad and how easily we can be swayed, I truly don't believe that they are ment to Immortalize the person or movement they are there iN my opinion to Immortalize that time in history so that future generations can have an insight to the Social and political Implications that they represent History is history good or bad and should be remembered
I emphasize with how many Ukrainians feel about Soviet monuments. I had a similar feeling when I was in the siege museum in Derry. It made the British empire looked triumphant and great. But it was filled with the looted relics of other peoples and it felt like it was glorifying the British empire and their destruction of indigenous cultures under British rule.
Rubbish...says the man from 🇮🇪👊.
'That is because the British culture is superior to the other cultures they conquered'. This is not the case for the Russians, for they are inferior to everyone! (This is a joke and is meant to be sarcastic). Unfortunately it is the thinking within many Nationalist circles!
Lol
so why didn't you tear it down
@@acruiox
Because I didn’t want to get deported and get banned from Europe for property damage which is what countries tend to do if you get arrested. Plus, I feel that any plundered cultural artifacts from other nations should not be destroyed but sent back to their homelands.
Some day there will be a deCCP movement, and I can't wait.
lol. You will still work for a minimum wage and be regarded as worth less than a Westerner. They laugh at you, as you eat yourselves from the inside out for a handful of dollars and some McDonald's.
It seems that every regime destroy the monuments of the past regimes... I hate the soviets but history is history
I can appreciate wanting to preserve history without glorifying atrocities. It’s the difference between a war memorial that lists the names of the dead from a town and a statue that glorifies the regime that they were sent to fight for.
Imagine statues of Adolf Hitler or Nazi Germany soldiers in 2023, say in Belgium or France.
After all, he did conquer those countries. And some belgians or french being dissatisfied with removing them.
💯
Belgium has no problem having king Leopold statues in Belgium when he committed genocides in Africa.
I am positively surprised about the number of comments emphezising the point of having the duty to honor history .
I guess most of the level headed commentators are being German .
I am not guessing... but almost certain ,that mainly Germans and Russians learned from history... while Brits,Poles,Balts etc. are falling back into the old patterns without any hesitation .
Russians never learn. Poles and Baltics simply know USSR was no better than nazi Germany for them. USSR invaded Poland just 17 days after Hitler and USSR was Hitler's ally till 1941.
Karl Marx is crying in his grave seeing all these Soviet monuments destroy 😂😂😂
Russian learned history with their slogan “we can repeat”? And became invader in 21st century killing thousands of people
I hope in my lifetime...to see the same thing happen to ALL the statues in Washington DC.
Thank you for such a great and interesting documentary. I like how you showed the situation among European countries with soviet monuments.
As a Ukrainian, I agree that soviet monuments should be toppled and kept in the special history museum, not on the streets of cities, especially now. But I really like that the video showed people with different points of view that you can listen to them and make personal minds and attitudes to things.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
the Kiev metro is a cultural heritage of the USSR, an architectural monument, like the Moscow metro, one of the most beautiful in the world, probably, ukrainians suffer when driving in the metro, urgently need to bury the metro.
Those who don't remember their history are doomed to repeat it.
They aren’t erasing it just taking down statues of people who shouldn’t be idolized next should be columbus
They are preserving it
They are repeating it! Fascism in Europe is Up. Russophobia is UP! All those countries removing the Red army symbols suffers from a tragic naon@zism.
I would say those who hide horrific actions, or even glorify them by erecting monuments commemorating them, are doomed to repeat these actions.
@@MrBell-iq3sm well depends how they are told. Either way it all comes down to education and values under which you are raised. Not to some random structures put there in the world
As a citizen of Poland I say, that Ruski Mir was just another form of occupation. Should we celebrate the Nazi Germany occupation too?
the Polish people absolutely have the right perspective on this matter
I think there's a difference between forcing people to become subordinates and stripping them off their right to exist. You know what happened to Poland until the collapse of the Soviet Union. How different would this period have turned out if Nazi Germany had been Poland's hegemon? Vastly different, that's for sure.
ruski mir give your country half of their historical territory. Can you give me example when NAZI Germany do something like this? May be should reject all of preferences that give Ruski mir occupation? Sorry of that question, 2006 its your year of birth?
Poles are prostitutes who have been separated by many countries including Germany, Austria, Russia. But they remember only Russia. You know, Russia didn't kill Jews in Warsaw. If you are talking about the fact that the Russian invaders, tell the millions of Jewish corpses in the West that they were lucky to remain under Germany. The Poles themselves are to blame, because they trusted the West in 1939. It was necessary to be friends with Russia. And now the Polish economy would be on a par with Germany if the Poles hadn't demolished Russian monuments. They would get cheap gas, oil, metals and produce the best goods in the world. But the development of Europe is not beneficial for the USA and England, they have already abandoned the European Union
Ruski mir sounds like ukrainian version of Dulles’ plan.
If they're monuments, of the past, then so is the Statue of liberty
I understand the need to tear down these statues, but what many are not willing to realize is the fact that the spirit of what they represent is still present. Even if we remove the physical representation, we cannot remove the ideology, just look at the nazi movements. The ideology did not disappear, despite the fact that every symbol, book or art is banned
I think eventually after the war, some of these monuments might be remade, in a reimagined way, celebrating Ukrainian history, instead of russian oppression, but currently, i see why many people dont like em
The scrap bronze will be used for the arms industry, copper, lead, brass and bronze used up by the tons daily.
Hi from Puerto Rico! All evil monuments must disapear, completely destroyed
I visited the Soviet monument in Riga and thought it was quite ugly, but it was breathtaking the size and brutalist style it was super cool to imagine your standing there with the old guard in 1983 in the LSSR.
That big ugly thing are gone now, For most Latvians it's like a having Nazi Monument next to Big Ben, or Elizabeth II monument next to O’Connell Monument in Dublin.
Karl Marx is crying in his grave seeing all these Soviet monuments destory 😂😂😂
These monuments were erected to remind the people that they were now the subjects of the Soviet Empire. Resistance is futile. We will erase your history and culture and send anyone who resists to Siberia if you are lucky. All these nations remember the occupation.
@@SaiputeraNah. He was Rolling in hisngrave The moment comunismo turned into a dictadorship.
@@samfire3067 lmao 😂😂😂
It’s interesting how I’ve seen this documentary first in the Spanish DW and there’s a good part of the comments against the demolishing of monuments, and here almost everyone understands why they do that. To honor something is different than remembering the history. I think it’s awesome they stop honouring all of this.
Could you share a link ?
Нужно чтить память тех кто боролся с нацизмом. Украинцы хотят видеть себя частью рейха.
So, honoring sacrifice of miIiions that defated Germany is wrong? Good to know. You don't even hide it now
They are engaged in fascism. This leads to wars.
Испанцы потому что поумней, и сами прошли гражданскую войну.
I remember when in Poland we were renaming streets and trying to find a balance between erasing Soviet occupation and preserving history while demolishing monuments. Lots of hard discussions and disagreements. Not easy things to do.I understand various points of view to me all Soviet should be taken down but that me. Everyone feels differently
It's always the old people defending a glorious past that never existed.
The Soviet leader Comrade Leonid Brezhnev & Soviet space engineer Sergie korolev are Ukrainian. There's many Ukrainian poets , story writers, movie director, producers and even many musicians since Russian Empire to Soviet Union ( USSR) & till today.
And who cares? Such people are simply called "traitors".
I mean there were so many gorgeous buildings demolished in the Kliningrad oblast when soviets overtook it and also so many in Poland when Prussia stopped ecisting so i do support this decision of Ukrainians.
75 years ago, on the night of August 27 and 30, 1944, the British Air Force raided Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad), which killed more than 6,000 civilians and destroyed the historic city center.
@@kiki-zt8fz it doesn't matter the destruction, what matter is the reconstruction that was made with modern buildings
I would rather have soviet symbols and statues than statues of Stepan Bandera and Co lol
Young, Woke and of course deserving to have voices about their future country. What a complex situation. Good luck to Ukrainian youth, I truly hope they still have a country to call home.
People think they can just imagine whatever meaning they want for this monuments, and demolish them, for a sake of hate, and rewriting history, forgetting the core idea behind this monument, or actually doesn't care about core, their interpretation is more important than reality behind.
The core idea of these monuments is Russian imperialism, a reminder that they can always rule over us and they can always conquer us again. No!! Never again!! 😡 Never!!!
The core idea is even worse than modern Russia.
@@barahng as I said before,your interpretation is more important than reality, good boy go and get cookies.
@@Registeredprofile The reality is those core ideas in practice led to the deaths of millions of people, regardless of how nice they sounded on paper. That being said I do not support the destruction of monuments in any context. Also, no need to be condescending.
Pity they can’t move them to a monument graveyard as they are pieces of art, irrespective of what they represent or represented.
They have indeed been moved to a monument graveyard. You are free to go and look at them there anytime you wish. I'm sure, if you really want, you can pay the quarry contractor to take a few pieces away with you to stick in your garden, if you are so inclined. Or look out for them in their new home as part of a motorway strut or multi-story carpark - living art!
As Mines stated. Most if not all east block countries and the baltics have started removing this stuff to various museums. I have seen a few. You can go and look at the collections of Stalins and Lenins and what not, all standing around staring at each other with serious faces. But you have to want to see it. You are not forced to see it every time you go downtown.
Most of them are not art , at most bad art.
Grutas park in Lithuania is a very interesting monument park founded in the late 1990s with Soviet monuments taken from all over Lithuania. It preserves the monuments and educates people about why they were put up. People can then choose to visit these monuments if they like, without being confronted by them all over their cities.
I think Elmira makes good points. However, the arch was ugly before the crack though. While even less esthetically pleasing with the crack, considering the context, I think it's an overall improvement
as a person from an ex soviet country the truth is ussr or communism isnt viewed as a genuine ideology of communism its treated more like extension of russian imperialism lot of us didnt want communism or ussr but were forced to "join" so thats why due to current geopolitical situation with russia, we ve decided to remove such things
lol. Forced to join. Kinda like the EU, right. Who does not join gets a nice color revolution, or whoever does not obey America....gets their country bombed to smithereens. Ask Iraq.
Excellent comment. Very right.
You comment it's very interesting and value
Forced to join is wild
@@ninofromkitchennightmares1497 you saying it's hard to believe? Read more history.
Remember there no good or bad person in the war all of them war for their futures
It is also important to note that many soldiers in a nation like Ukraine died fighting the German forces. In my mind these statues also symbolize their efforts as well alongside other ex-Soviet states. Ofc such statues in other countries that were not even Communist at the time of the WW2 having such statue is mostly symbolizing the imperialism other than anything else.
Ukrainian auxiliary police,450k soldiers. At least 2 million dead poles,Jews, by them.
@@xyeB There is actually no evidence about that so please keep your personal opinion or some conspiracy theories to yourself.
There are millions upon millions of Ukrainians who served in the Soviet army and died so what you are saying in no way shape or form denies the incredible sacrifice done by the Ukrainian people in the fight against the Nazis. Not to mention the extreme condition these people suffered from the other mass murderer in Moscow. Unfortunately Russia is a home to many mass murderers up until this very day
An interesting point of view, but there is a question. What if the country became socialist in the process, as a result of elections, for example, Czechoslovakia. The population of the country chose socialism, built a number of monuments during the epoch, but then refused socialism. Does this mean that these monuments should be demolished? Monuments not of the occupiers, but of great people from their country?
@@user-xl2it6wg1l If that's the case then it is part the country's natural development . Going by that I think they shouldn't be removed
exactly
these idiots dont even know their own countries history and protest against their grandfahters sacrifices
young ukrainians are legit dumb
You can photograph and document the memorials, and teach in the textbooks what crimes were commited and how people propogandized and tried to rewrite history with such memorials. They do not need to be forgotten. The monuments are part of the crime. But you don't need to keep promoting the crimes by letting the offensive monuments stand. Start healing. Tear it down and put something uplifting in it's place.
The most simple and based take so far
@@strangeke7750 just like confederate statues in Southern US