Battle of Sevastopol

A family member had watched a documentary about the Roosevelts, so I suggested watching Battle of Sevastopol about Soviet sniper Lyudamila Pavlichenko who was credited with killing 309 enemy soldiers. She visited the US in 1943 and befriended Eleanor Roosevelt.

She asked if Eleanor Roosevelt KNEW what Pavlichenko had done.

"Yes," I said. "I think she approved." There's nothing wrong with killing 309 Nazis, especially when they've invaded your country. The more the better.

When she's introduced to Pavlichenko, the First Lady is surprised to see a woman soldier. Pavlichenko explains that she is a sniper.

"Have you killed any men?"

"Not men. Fascists," she says. "Three hundred nine."

It's amazing how otherwise normal people turn pro-Nazi when they're talking about the USSR. I've heard people refer to Soviet World War Two movies as "propaganda films", like they should have been even-handed and shown the Nazi side of the story.

I was just listening to Terry Gross on Fresh Air on public radio interview a kraut movie director. Gross is Jewish but she went along with the German's whining about how those mean Russians won World War Two. They took away his family's castles. He never even lived in East Germany but he still plays victim.

Battle of Sevastopol is available on Amazon Prime.