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Russian leaders condemn attempts to revise World War II history

Xinhua, January 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Russia's top leaders said on Monday that attempts to distort the history of the World War II could open the gate for revival of Nazism.

"We must clearly understand that any attempts to rewrite history, and to revise the contribution of our country to the Great Victory (of the World War II), effectively mean justification of Nazism crimes and would open gates for its deadly ideology," Kremlin press service quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying.

"We must defend the truth about the events of the Second World War ... as forgetting the lessons of our common past could lead to the repetition of such terrible tragedies (as the Holocaust)," Putin said.

He stressed that it was the Red Army of the Soviet Union that have saved the Jewish as well as other people in the world from Nazi's "merciless annihilation."

Also on Monday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that historical revisions have been exercised by politicians in the countries that once suffered from Nazi occupation.

"Lately, the memories of the World War II have been distorted for the political speculative goals. There are even cynical attempts to whitewash war criminals and fascist henchmen," Medvedev said.

He said that those attempts provoked new conflicts and led to new tragedies. "Revival of radical nationalism means oblivion of the lessons of the World War II," Medvedev said in a statement.

Both Putin and Medvedev Monday attended a memorial event here to mark the 70th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Army.

Earlier this month, the Kremlin said Putin was not going to attend the Auschwitz liberation memorial events planned in Poland, as he has not received an official invitation to the Tuesday gathering marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Observers took this as the latest reflection of the exacerbation of Russia's relationships with Western countries as their ties have been dragged to the worst since the Cold War due to the Ukraine crisis. Endite