“For a real-life example, you don’t need to look further than the EU. The manifestations can be very basic and very complex. As basic as youth marching in the streets and chanting Nazi slogans.”
“I’m struggling to follow you.”
“I will explain everything in detail. I am very old — I remember things no one is supposed to remember. You do know of the annual parades of SS veterans in the Baltic states nowadays? The death squad members celebrating their murderous exploits, dressed up in their full Nazi uniforms and cheered on by the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania?”
Sokolov nodded.
“Have you ever asked yourself why? Why is that allowed to happen in the twenty-first century? Why does the European Union turn a blind eye to Nazi sympathisers in their midst?”
“I have no idea.”
“It’s a matter of embarrassment, my boy.”
“They’re embarrassed to face the fact?”
“No! Quite the contrary. They don’t want to be embarrassed by this fact anymore. They want to forget it. Forget the guilt of the Second World War. They want that moral pressure of history out of their way. Right now Germany is the driving force of the European Union. They don’t want to be reminded of Hitler’s crimes several times each year, of reputable German companies using slave labor from the camps. They want to make it seem that everything was not so bad after all. Dilute the emphasis. Mix black and white into shades of gray. After all, the Americans nuked Japan, and Stalin wasn’t such a nice guy anyway.”
“And what is the reason behind this policy?”
“That is the key question. You see, it is not only Germany that wants to wash off the stains of guilt. It’s all of Europe. The Axis powers — and beyond. You should take a look at the tombstones across the continent, and the lists of Wehrmacht divisions in order to understand the reality. You will find every European nationality present on the map fighting alongside. Germans and Austrians. Italians, Belgians, French, Dutch, Hungarians, Croats, Greeks, Ukrainians, Danes, Albanians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Norwegians… All were volunteers strengthening Hitler’s war machine. The Waffen SS was sixty percent foreign. Throw in the Swiss with their dubious neutrality, even the Vatican, and there you have it. So it turns out that Hitler was the first man who truly unified Europe in the twentieth century.”
“That is a terrifying thought.”
“A thought no one wishes to face. And it’s made even more terrifying when you remember that Hitler did in fact bring about the dream of another man. Leo Trotsky. What Trotsky called, in his own words, the United States of Europe.”
Sokolov was beginning to feel sick.
“As much as we enjoy blaming Americans for everything that goes wrong, there is one thing that they did perfectly right” Ilia continued. “When they established West Germany, they instilled upon the Germans a collective sense of national guilt for the crimes of the Nazis. Every German was deemed responsible, not only those who worked for the Gestapo, as we are now told. This sense of guilt lasted over decades, becoming remembrance for future generations. Not so in East Germany. It was not the case under Soviet rule. A society that accepted Communist ideology was sinless. Especially if this ideology was forced on the populace by those who defeated the Nazis. The West were the bad Germans, the East were good. And through this initial defiance, a neo-Nazi state was preserved. New flag, old methods. Gestapo morphing into Stasi, swastikas changing into hammers. I’m sure you know this first-hand, Eugene, from your time in the DDR.”
“Indeed, I do.”
“I don’t blame the people for their failure to condemn their past. It is only natural. But where does this road lead to? What did rise from the wreckage of the Berlin Wall? Did West Germany incorporate the DDR, or was it East Germany that slowly devoured the Bundesrepublik? Imagine for a second that the preserved Stasi regime made its way to the top hierarchy of the unified Germany. And hence to the summit of the new European Union, which expanded through new members from the Soviet Bloc. You will get an abomination.”
Sokolov wondered how deluded Ilia had to be in order to believe such a conspiracy theory. And what sort of power did Hermann Weinstock wield over the old man in order to indoctrinate him so feverishly?
Ilia added, “That is why I always felt we should have had our own Nuremberg. We wasted the chance in the nineties to get rid of the Communist stigma, and I’m not sure if it can be possible now.”
“A Nuremberg trial of the Communist was never possible,” Sokolov objected. “Everyone was Communist, to a certain extent. Did you expect the whole country to exercise self-flagellation? For it to become the world’s largest prison again?”
“I do not mean the Nuremberg trials literally, with charges against every Communist leader. I’m implying the broader sense, the emotional cleansing. The collective guilt of the post-war Germans. Not persecution, but confession. Russia wanted a return to God, but it did not have a communion, did not defy the devil. Is there anything shameful in saying that evil is evil? Yet there are many people left in this country who would jump at your throat if you mentioned the crimes of the Bolsheviks. Will we eventually forget it all, like Europe tries to forget the Nazis? I do not know, and it scares me, Eugene. Those magnificent skyscrapers will stand for the future generations to marvel at, as will everything that Stalin built. No one cares how many people died constructing the Egyptian Pyramids as one gazes at them with delight. I pray that people don’t forget all the blood and the terror that our country suffered.”
“Oh, but it happens all the time,” Sokolov replied. “People do forget. Even those who love to hate the Communists often glorify the man who made their rise inevitable. The man who single-handedly primed Russia for self-destruction, dooming the Romanov dynasty when he murdered his only son. Czar Peter, dubbed the Great for drenching himself in blood, waging catastrophic wars, decapitating the Church, creating serfdom and a behemoth bureaucracy. A great villain in Russian history is now being hailed as a great hero. Not that I really care, but it’s nothing new. I can get over it. Every day, I have other things to occupy my mind. Real lives depend on whether or not I’m good enough at what I do. And when I clash with death, I really don’t give a toss about historical conspiracies. Right now, I’m trying to save my own brother.”
For several seconds, Ilia sat wordlessly, humbled.
“Yes, you are right, my boy.”
Sokolov had to press Ilia one more time. Everything revolved around Weinstock and Free Action.
“I need to find Hermann Weinstock. There has to be a way to reach him in case of an emergency.”
“There is none,” Ilia said apologetically. “It is better that way, Eugene. When the time is right Constantine will come back, with God’s help.”
Futility gnawed at Sokolov, making him desperate. He curbed his temper. All throughout his EMERCOM missions, he had learned never to give up hope.
“Do you know any other people who share Weinstock’s ideas? How does anyone get involved with their group? They should attract supporters somehow, spread their political views.”
Ilia hesitated.
“Like I said, to my knowledge, Free Action does not operate in Russia directly. And you cannot sign up to join them. They only approach the potential members they deem worthy.”
For Sokolov, it was another turn of the screw.
“But,” Ilia continued, “Herman could barely contain his excitement about a convention he was organizing. A meeting of Free Action members coming from all over the country to discuss their strategies. He called it a turning point.”