This is all moot. By referencing T-34’s and Katyusha rocket launchers, I am clearly talking about DURING the war.
Right but this brings up several issues. First to what extent did the war industrialize Russia further, to what extent did Stalin abandon previous racialist policies for the sake of survival, and if so what were those previous policies. Even though he did abandon them it doesn’t negate that the early part of collectivization was especially hard on Russian Jews and its logical to think that had he lived longer it would’ve been continued. Further, if you ever actually read Stalins personal writings going back to his youth you’ll find he was very anti-semtic.
The point stands: The Russians had the means to build concentration camps to liquidate ethnic undesireables. They did not do so.
Right b/c they were at war with a superior enemy.
As to the 2nd point: Resources were spent running trains full of “undesireables” to the death camps (oppurtunity costs there as well), the camps themselves took valuable resources to keep running, and roundiing up jews and patrolling the camps took more resources. All with the Russians advancing everywhere in the East. The Russians had NOTHING equivalent to such an industrialization of death
And this is easily attributable to the lack of wealth in EEurope/Russia compared to WEurope. Russia simply didn’t have the rail capacity to do this which is why they chose starvation. The reason why the Ukrainians welcomed the Germans was b/c collectivization was so unpopular.
The Russians had NOTHING equivalent to such an industrialization of death, and hadn’t even articulated a philosophy for it because they had NO guiding philosophy for “purifying” their race. Germany had already had the Wansee conference where the “final solution” had been laid out in great detail.
But this is b/c of two seperate reasons. First Russia didn’t need an official doctrine b/c Stalin was the state at this point, and Germany was completely different than Russia. Hitler unlike Stalin needed his beauracrats to run his govt and they were the old Wilhelmine guys that were around back during WWI in some cases. So unlike with Stalin it was in his interest to let people in his govt know what he was going to do to engage their cooperation and participation. Which brings up another point in that anti-semitism in Germany was institutionalized long before the Nazis came to power dating back to the Wilhemine era. So its simply not accurate to say Hitler was the Halocaust and therefore it wouldn’t have happened but for him.
Probably because it has nothing to do with what I’m talking about. As usual. If you bother replying to this, it will be for another audience. I’m about done arguing this point.
You say that but I doubt you’ll follow through. I think this does have some bearing b/c it shows where the large portion of Jews f/Europe were coming from. Even those that survived in WEurope tended to stay there in Francel, Germany or Italy, but no so with Russian jews.