Why is it important to remember this? Because today the Russian propaganda tells the myth of Russia being the sole victor of the Second World War – denying the historic truth.
Historic Facts Denied in Russia Today
In 1939 the two dictators Stalin and Hitler agreed to share Eastern European countries between their respective countries. Stalin and Hitler both attacked the countries between Germany and Russia from opposite sides. Stalin attacked Poland despite the non-aggression pact he had signed with Poland. The Soviets killed the entire Polish elite in the infamous massacre of Katyn.
At the same time the UK was fiercely fighting _alone_ against Hitler Germany on the Western front since 1939, giving everything. No help from the USSR and Stalin for the UK in the year 1939 or ever after – how would Stalin do such a thing? It was the ideological enemy. Would Hitler Germany have broken the UK resistanceof the British, Stalin would have just not cared at all.
Operation Barbarossa – Threatening Survival of the USSR
In 1941 Hitler Germany broke the pact with Stalin and started operation Barbarossa – the full-scale attack on the USSR.
The points on the map represent places where the infamous killing squads “Einsatzgruppen” committed large-scale massacres. The largest massacre of WW2 happened at Babyn Yar. I have not much doubt that such massacres would have continued throughout the further territories of the USSR, if the USA had not come to the help of the USSR in 1941.
Saving the USSR – Land-Lease Act – $720 Billion in Aid
The USSR was saved from losing the war against the Germans by timely huge support from the USA and help by the UK.
The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law on March 11, 1941, and ended on September 20, 1945. A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to $719 billion in 2021) worth of supplies was shipped, or 17% of the total war expenditures of the U.S.
Comparing with Ukraine – USSR Received 9x More
By comparison – Ukraine by the end of July 2023 has received 80 billion in US aid – so only a bit more than 10% of what the UDSSR received between 1941 and 1945 from the USA.
Ukraine Aid by Country – 2022-2023
Summary of Channel 5 Clip from Above
See the details of this historic salvage operation of the UDSSR in the clip from channel 5 above.
The USA did not receive one cent for the billions of help they provided at first. It took until 2006 until the last back payment was made and then this only was a portion of the original value provided.
Such actions have actually saved millions of lives of people living in the former areas of the Soviet Union. It is very sad to see the lost opportunity in Russians today ignoring this historic deed of humanity that the US decided on. It would have been easy for them to turn a cold shoulder.
Roosevelt did not. He cared.
And it is true also, that Roosevelt saw the danger of the USSR losing to Germany and the consequences that might have followed from that. So it was also a move that served his own interest. But he also could have decided to go in a different direction. It would serve Russians well to remember that, instead of getting stuck in the enemy image and hatred of the USA.
And even current dictator Putin – in another life it seems – in 2005 recognized the contribution to this victory through the US help for the USSR on his commemoration speech in front of the leaders of the world. You see this historage footage in the film above.