The blame is with the leader, not the Russian people
My first memories of Russian-anything in my life were the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis during the Kennedy administration.
As a 10-year-old, the memory of the intended reaction to an atomic bomb launch on the U.S. — “duck and cover” was taught in most Monroe public schools in 1961 — was scary. During World War II, Russia made it quite difficult on the Germans with its “scorched earth policy” that included burning homes, buildings and crops and the destruction of livestock to keep anything of use out of the hands of the German invaders.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has allowed us to see first-hand yet another example of a scorched earth policy. However, this time the policy is in reverse as the Russian forces are leaving little of use for the Ukrainian people. Unlike the days of the missile crisis, we now see nations and businesses across the globe protesting Russian aggression with sanctions that are likely to set back the Russian economy for years to come.
My in-person exposure to Russian culture happened in San Francisco in 1981 while working for a large engineering firm. At a Monday morning staff meeting, management advised there would be a Russian joining our team and I was chosen to “hand-hold” this person while he “learned the ropes” of our design/engineering oil refinery modernization projects within the Bay Area.
Igor, a native Russian, had recently left his family in Leningrad and applied for asylum in the U.S. Igor was a mechanical engineer. The 43-year-old with a mere two months in America was conversant in English. However, with his heavy accent, communication was often a chore.
As a 30-year-old, with preconceived notions about Russians in general, I was at first apprehensive. What would it be like to work with a Russian; could I trust this person? What, if anything, should I share with this person? To my surprise, not only did I have a total misconception of what it would be like to work with a Russian, I quickly learned that I had an immature, preconceived bias about anything Russian.
In the end, Igor and I became good friends. He, too, was a big fan of history and both our fathers had fought in World War II. Unfortunately, Igor’s father, a captain in the Russian army, died of wounds suffered while protecting his wife and family at the siege of Leningrad. At the time of his father’s death, Igor was a toddler. Through stories passed down by his mother, Igor spoke of near starvation toward the end of the Leningrad siege. They resorted to eating “newspaper soup” as the starving Russians figured out that the pulp of the newspaper combined with the protein in the ink had caloric value. The Russian military losses from the Second World War, estimated at nearly 8 million, accounted for more military deaths than any other nation. In contrast, the U.S. military losses were less than 500,000.
Igor introduced me to caviar, vodka and Russian folk music, plus an amazing way to prepare breakfast. All the aforementioned reflect my fondest memories of hanging out with my Russian friend.
Of course, the day after his mugging in Golden Gate Park was my favorite Igor story. A mugger had attacked him and knocked him to the ground during a jog and wanted all his money and valuables. Igor replied, “I have no money; can I write you a check?”
I later learned that, at that time in Russia, checking accounts were unheard of; hence, Igor believed American checks could be used the same as money for any expense. Regardless, the mugger swore at him and left.
Through my years spent with Igor, I learned that friendship, family values, attitudes, honesty, loyalty, trust, religious beliefs and work ethic are essential with typical Russians, but not with the government. They were consistent with American beliefs.
The Russian people are not the ones we should hold responsible for the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian people are generally, in so many ways, like us: It is their madman leader, Vladimir Putin, who is responsible for this horrible military action nightmare.
Roger D. Evans is from Monroe and loves in Maricopa, Arizona. His email address is revans219@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Roger Evans: The blame is with the leader, not the Russian people
