Russians Are About to Learn Some German Lessons
As citizens of an aggressor state, Russians around the world will have to face up to the consequences of what their country has done, and their own responsibility.
Too few, too little and too late
Photographer: -/AFP via Getty Images
Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine will have momentous consequences for many — above all for Ukrainians, those who are fleeing the country and those who have stayed to fight off the invading army or to helplessly endure the devastation. But the effect on Russians, too, will be enormous, whether or not we realize it now. It’s time for we citizens of the aggressor state to try on the shoes of post-World War II Germans.
The comparison will seem hyperbolic to many. The Nazis, after all, committed genocide on a grand scale, leveled cities in many countries, set up death camps. It is difficult for Putin to measure up to Hitler’s homicidal madness, hard as he might try. Yet it is 2022, not the 1940s. Putin’s war crimes are instantly documented on social media, and the global audience’s sensibilities have also changed: No matter how limited your bombing of civilians might be, it’s unforgivable from the moment the first missile targets a residential area. Because of the abundance of evidence, Russia doesn’t even have to lose the war for its people — and not just Putin personally — to be held responsible even in lands far removed from Russia and Ukraine.
Many Russians, especially those leaving to escape the official war hysteria and the economic and lifestyle consequences of unprecedented Western sanctions (no more IKEA! No H&M!), don’t blame themselves for the war. Like the many Russian celebrities who have posted “No to war” or “I’m for peace” on social networks without taking the next step — calling for an end to Putin’s mad aggression — they feel no personal responsibility for the leveled neighborhoods of Kharkiv or Mariupol. “I’ve never voted for Putin,” I hear from them. “What do I have to do with this? I’m against war!”