History in the evening

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I am getting used to the routine of reading Peter’s history books to him in the evenings. Right now, we are reading about Stalin‘s defense of Moscow against the German attack in October of 1941. Through Stalin’s idiocy, refusal to face reality, and incredible mismanagement, three million Soviet soldiers died between the start of Operation Barbarossa in June, and the defense of Moscow in October.

That’s million with an M.

I’m starting to be surprised that there was any bit of Russia left after 1941, what with these tremendous losses and the constant purges against his own people.

And amid the reading of these depressing facts about one of the most insane sociopaths of all time, Peter and I quietly bond. When we’re not reading, we sit and talk. He speculates whether Hitler could have captured Moscow if he’d started Operation Barbarossa just two weeks earlier.

I have no idea myself, and figure that Hitler and Stalin deserved each other. I feel sorry for the Russian people, and I feel especially helpless, being separated from these events by more than sixty years.

I couldn’t have done anything, and I must learn not to take history seriously.

One thought on “History in the evening”

  1. I think it is wonderful that you and your son read history together.

    When I was in Russia this past summer, I saw the graveyard and memorial from the siege of Leningrad. It was very moving. I think about a million people died – many through starvation. The Russian people have been through an amazing amount of trial and tribulation.

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