Support The Moscow Times!

Russian Region Bans British Historian's Books

The books, published by George Soros' Open Society Foundations, are "promoting stereotypes formed during the times of the Third Reich," the ministry said. Memyselfaneye / Pixabay

The Sverdlovsk regional government has ordered local schools to remove renowned British historian Antony Beevor's books about World War II from their library shelves, accusing him of "promoting stereotypes formed during the Third Reich."

Sverdlovsk's Education Ministry has "received information" that some schools in the Ural Mountains region carry Beevor's books, and has ordered the volumes to be "barred from access by students or faculty, the ministry said in a letter to school principals published by local news site E1.ru on Tuesday.

The books, published by George Soros' Open Society Foundations, are "promoting stereotypes formed during the times of the Third Reich," the ministry said.

The Federation Council, the upper chamber of Russia's parliament, has placed the Open Society Foundations on its "patriotic stop-list" of foreign nongovernmental organizations that senators said should be declared "undesirable" and banned from the country under a recently passed law.

Beevor's books, which include "Stalingrad," "Berlin: The Downfall 1945," and "The Second World War," have earned him international fame, although they have also brought the author his share of criticism for dwelling on painfully macabre topics — such as cannibalism by Japanese soldiers in Southeast Asia.

Fellow historian Niall Ferguson has accused Beevor of writing war pornography, but Beevor countered that "one has to try to understand these things," Britain's The Telegraph reported.

The parts of Beevor's books that some Russians have taken issue with are accounts of the rape of German women by advancing Red Army soldiers.

In a recent interview with Russia's Afisha-Vozdukh art news portal, Beevor said the critics were poorly informed.

"I was, of course, angered by those who called my book 'Goebbels propaganda,' failing to understand that the majority of the documents I studied were Soviet, and not at all German," he was quoted as saying.

But referring to Soviet archives may no longer be a valid defense in Russia, where the government is growing increasingly protective of its official, glamorized version of the Red Army's actions in World War II.

Russia's state archive service this summer published a declassified memo by Stalin-era prosecutors showing that a group of legendary World War II heroes known as "Panfilovtsy" were an invention. Archive service chief Sergei Mironenko, called the group a "myth."

Culture Ministry Vladimir Medinsky responded by saying that the archive service should mind its own business and stay away from commenting on historic events or archive documents, state news service TASS reported.

Contact the author at newsreporter@imedia.ru

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more