Soviet Union:
"Kill the German"
[The following text is from premier Soviet propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg.
Spurred on by this brand of ethnic hatred, it is no wonder that the
Red Army committed such a vast number of atrocities.]
"The Germans are not human beings. Henceforth the word German means
to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger
your rifle. We shall not speak any moe. We shall not get excited. We
shall kill. If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have
wasted that day... If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill
him with your bayonet. If there is calm on your part of the front, if
you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you
leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian
woman. If you kill one German, kill another - there is nothing more
amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do
not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed. Kill
the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill ther German - this
is what your children beseech you to do. Kill the German - this is the
cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill."
(Text is found in Ilya Ehrenburg's book Vojna (The war)
(Moscow, 1942-43)
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