The tenacity, bravery and sacrifice of the Red Army managed to stop the greatest genocide in history.
in history. Photo taken from Archivo/Prensa Latina

By María Josefina Arce

Today is Victory Day. Seventy-eight years ago in Berlin, Nazi Germany signed its unconditional surrender to the then Soviet Union during World War II, the longest and bloodiest war of the 20th century.

Decisive in achieving the defeat of fascism was the heroism of the Soviet people, who from 1941 to 1945 carried out the Great Patriotic War to confront foreign intervention.

The tenacity, bravery and sacrifice of the Red Army managed to stop the greatest genocide in history. Between 50 and 70 million human lives were lost as a result of that war, which left some 27 million dead among the Soviet people.

Precisely, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz (1926-2016), stressed that although it is fair to recognize the role played by the internal resistance in the occupied European territories and the contribution to the victory of all the forces that participated in the anti-fascist alliance, an unquestionable fact is that it was the Soviet people and army who carried the fundamental and decisive weight in the defeat of fascism.

World War II was marked by events of enormous impact, such as the mass extermination of Jews and the first use of nuclear weapons.

In August 1945, when the German surrender had already been signed, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Japan, an ally of Berlin. Four hundred thousand people died and the effects of that criminal action are still felt today.

Today the ghost of fascism has not disappeared in the world, which Fidel Castro Ruz will describe as "the most complete expression of bourgeois and imperialist reactionary thought".

There are of course differences, according to the times, but also similarities in several aspects. The existence of neo-Nazi groups, which revere fascist symbology and ideology, is a reality in many nations.

In the United States, for example, with the arrival in 2017 of Donald Trump to the presidency, the number of white supremacist groups increased, encouraged by his hateful and racist discourse.

Likewise, the extreme right has been gaining ground, with many points in common with fascism such as xenophobia. The immigration issue is one of their favorite topics.

Today is a date of great relevance for the world, which was the scene in the twentieth century of one of the greatest tragedies and humanitarian catastrophes in its history.