Interview: WWII history not to be tampered with: war veteran

A veteran of Kazakhstan criticized some historians for distorting World War II (WWI) history, calling for truthful presentation of WWII and correct understanding of the history among younger generations.

"It hurts me to see how some historians and experts are tampering with history, forcing wrong, even evil knowledge and judgment upon younger generations," said Isaac Krasik in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Krasik, who fought against Fascist aggression during WWII in Soviet Far East and Northeast China, warmly congratulated the Chinese people on the upcoming great Victory Day.

Krasik volunteered to go to the front and enrolled at Sevastopol air defense artillery school in 1941 when he just graduated from high school.

He was sent to the Trans-Baikal Front where he learned the terrible news that the German Nazis killed all of his family because they were Jews.

Driven by the desire to revenge, Krasik, together with 100 soldiers under his command, destroyed a great number of firing points, observation and command posts of the Japanese army in Northeast China.

"I looked at the Chinese and felt like they were close family to me, who have suffered from the war and lost families just like me. I had to help them and save them," said the veteran.

With experience in fighting against Nazi Germany, Krasik's army only lost two soldiers in the battles against Japanese aggression.

Memories of the Chinese people's gratitude "warm my heart, which are more precious to me than any medals or awards," Krasik said, adding that Japanese militarists' atrocities in China had been imprinted on his memory.

"Words cannot describe what the Japanese militarists did. They organized massacres, gassed peasants and rebels, raped women, and killed innocent children and old people. In only six weeks they had killed 300,000 civilians in Nanjing city," said Krasik.

"I've seen people inflicted by hunger, poverty and diseases in China, but the invaders failed to break their spirit. Instead of giving up, the Chinese bravely resisted the invaders," said the veteran with a tone of respect.

The veteran urged young people around the world to bear in mind the price paid for the victory of WWII and cherish the hard-won peace.

Krasik also strongly condemned ridiculous movies with so-called WWII inside stories, in which truth is completely reversed with heroes illustrated as traitors while traitors depicted as liberators and fighters for justice.

"Some refuse to admit genocide while some distort truth to justify the Nazis and the Japanese militarists, diminishing contributions of the Soviet army and the Chinese people to the ultimate victory", Krasik said with regret. Endi