The Denied Denial

Announcements from Molotov
What he forgot to say.
Molotov, the Russian People‘s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, has provided an official communication to the diplomats accredited in the Soviet Union, in which it is announced that the German soldiers during their advance in Russia have been guilty of atrocities and inhuman acts, and have destroyed and devastated everything behind them. Where the Bolsheviks managed to gain any territory, they found devastated regions, which Molotov blames on the German troops. According to well-informed sources, the experience in all campaigns of this war shows that the German groups spare the population, their houses, and memorials. These and similar occurrences clearly prove what Bolshevism, which, despite its dark past, tries to cloak itself in a clean appearance and shift its misdeeds onto others, looks like in practice. – 13/1 42

The evacuation of the city took place during the night, and the Germans withdrew to positions just west of the city. These positions were established four weeks ago, and everything in Orel that could be useful to the enemy was thoroughly destroyed beforehand. This disengagement from the enemy is described in Berlin military circles as “withdrawing from the tip of the nose” in this part of the front, and the occupation of Orel must have been a bitter disappointment for the Soviets: they “conquered” only a scorched piece of earth. However, this scorched piece of earth has cost the Bolsheviks massive sacrifices and enormous efforts, undermining their offensive power. The D.N.B. also points out that the actual significance of Orel is extremely low: the largest factory in the city is a wagon and sled factory, employing only 130 workers. The city does not possess heavy industry. What was present has been thoroughly destroyed, not a single solid building has been spared, and the population has moved westward. The Bolsheviks have thus conquered a city that is …  no longer there. And such a gain was paid for with a loss of armored vehicles since July 5, amounting to 3538 units. – 8/8 43

Orel was evacuated by the German military leadership when it had finished to serve as a support point on the Eastern Front. The Soviets found only ruins. The same was the case with Belgorod. – 24/8 43

We won’t swallow without resistance
The contradictions,
The Underwater Cabaret
Will precisely dissect them.

Thus we have rectified
Many mistakes of the DNB,
We are quite familiar
With catching liars.

The DNB reports
Are meticulously examined,
And Goebbels’ web of lies
Is not quietly tolerated here.

What the DNB mentions
Will be rigorously verified,
Then exposed and denounced
The lies of these gentlemen.

It‘s incredibly amusing
How the gentlemen twist and turn,
They go from one side to the other,
To appease the public.

They tell swindle and deceit,
Abundantly, ample, plenty,
And occasionally they still launch
A dementi behind it.

Here I have a special case
Where they initially denied,
And later with triumphant fanfare
Declared the opposite.

When ‘42 Molotov
Accused them of cruelty,
And how destructively the Nazis
Started raging fires,

How Hitler‘s army everywhere
Piled horror upon horror,
Goebbels exclaimed: Molotov is crazy
To sell these lies.

It is certainly well-known
That we spare the people,
And everyone knows for sure
That we preserve their homes.

We are not cruel, we are humane,
And we will extinguish the fires,
We spare livestock and spare grain,
All the Russians know that.

They denied and – forgot,
Seventeen months later,
They evacuated many cities,
The propaganda cat

Now mews a completely different tune
For German Nazi souls.
A city evacuated? It doesn‘t bother us,
Because we‘ll destroy it.

Before we surrender cities,
Herr Goebbels cleverly declares,
We thoroughly destroy each house,
Not a stone remains on another.

Friend Goebbels vehemently denies
The destruction of cities,
But what he denied yesterday,
Is now proudly confessed.

They lie here and lie there,
In twists and knots,
Now it’s a lie, soon it will be true,
But eventually, it will be over.