Saturday, May 14, 2005
I write to complain bitterly about the total absence in The Post -- and most other American publications -- of any mention of the 60th anniversary of V-E Day (Victory in Europe) celebrations in this country.
Americans have no sense of history. They did not, generally, remember much less celebrate the anniversary of this country's greatest triumph over the forces of evil. If we hadn't beaten Hitler in World War II, those of us who weren't killed by the Nazis would be speaking German. And those of us who, like me, are Jews would have been turned into lampshades.
Hardly anyone bothered to honor the anniversary in this country. The president was in the Netherlands and then Moscow, helping the Russians celebrate and criticizing his betters, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, for bowing to the inevitable and recognizing the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. The vice president was nowhere to be seen.
The only V-E Day celebration I read about in the United States was presided over by Bob Dole at the National World War II Memorial. Dole is a distinguished World War II veteran. But he should have gotten more help from official Washington.
To its disgrace, The Post did not even report on the D.C. celebration, though the Washington Times did so. Even more disgraceful, though, was the absence of V-E Day celebrations throughout this country.
-- Sandy Goodman
Rockville
ยท
The photo accompanying Peter Baker's May 7 news story "Memories of Soviet Repression Still Vivid in Baltics" had a rather benign caption that belied its content. I wonder whether the editors who chose the picture were aware of its significance.
The picture showed two signs in a storefront in Riga, Latvia. One featured a peace symbol and the words "Imagine, George!" The other showed President Bush with raised arms over the phrase "Welcome Peace Duke." Your caption blandly observed, "Storefronts in Riga display posters of President Bush, who arrived in the Latvian capital Friday to meet with the leaders of the three Baltic states." Indeed.
But to a Russian speaker, the message of the second poster was clear: "Peace Duke" is a cross-language verbal pun. Pronounced "Pizdyuk," its Russian homonym has a crude reference to the female anatomy as its root and renders in English as something you're not likely to print with editorial letters.
If you did this on purpose, well, some of us salute you. If you did not, don't feel bad that you got suckered; people of the former Soviet Union are quite clever at getting political nose-thumbings past the guardians of the media. They had a long practice period, and to quote your article on Soviet oppression, "It's still a very, very living and present topic."
-- Danny Collier
Washington