MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. The publication of archive documents on the history of WWII helps counter attempts to falsify historical facts, Scientific Head of the Russian Military and Historical Society Mikhail Myagkov told TASS on Thursday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier published declassified documents timed for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Budapest from the German troops.
"This is the weightiest argument against the attempts to rewrite history because we respond with documented facts to all falsification endeavors and we can expose as liars those who are trying to falsify our history," he emphasized.
"The publication of documents that relate to the period of WWII is a very important process. Speaking about the historical truth, we have no right to make any inaccuracy. We must be accurate because history is actually an exact science because it relies on facts while facts are backed by documents. This is a big help to historians and researchers not only in our country but also abroad and I believe that this process will continue," he said.
The documents that have been published clearly indicate that the Red Army entered the capital of Hungary as a liberator, Myagkov stressed.
"The State Defense Committee’s orders and resolutions published by the Defense Ministry clearly indicate that we came to Hungarian soil as liberators from the pro-fascist regime to let Hungarians live and develop freely. They expressly say that we did not come to change the social and economic system or establish the Soviet model," the historian said.
The documents reveal the difficulties, which Soviet troops encountered in Budapest, the scientific head of the Russian Military and Historical Society noted.
"The documents show how strong the German defense was and how difficult it was for our troops to overcome it and repel the enemy’s constant counter-attacks. The enemy amassed several armored and motorized divisions in the Budapest direction and the troops’ density per kilometer of the front was the largest over the entire period of the Great Patriotic War," the historian said.
"The three-layered defense included anti-tank ditches, barbed wire and fire emplacements, with its flanks extending to the shores of the Danube. The documents emphasize the heroism of our combatants and heroes who distinguished themselves in these battles as they had to storm almost every building," Myagkov said.
New evidence has also surfaced about the Hungarian regime’s cruelty towards the Jewish population, he said.
"The Jews were subjected to the severest genocide on the territory of Hungary. They were driven into ghettoes and re-directed to death camps, first of all, Auschwitz. There are data that show that over 600,000 Hungarian Jews were killed, tortured to death or shot dead. The documents indicate that our troops were finding in basements a large number of the bodies of women, children and civilians exterminated by the Nazis," the historian said.
Liberation of Budapest
The capital of Hungary was liberated from the German troops on February 13, 1945 in the strategic offensive operation by the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts with the participation of Danube Flotilla ships. In March 1945, the Soviet leadership made a decision to send food supplies to Hungary as its population was suffering after the Hitlerite troops plundered the country. In June 1945, the Soviet Union transferred 3,000 tonnes of grain, 1,000 tonnes of sugar, 960 tonnes of salt and 250 trucks for the needs of the Budapest population. Moscow made 24 artillery salvos of 324 guns on February 13, 1945 to mark the liberation of Budapest.