No one noticed for 12 years, and now they're demanding the director's dismissal. The website of the "Battle of Kursk" diorama museum has been found to contain seditious material about "our glorious warriors."
First complaints about the text Karl-Heinz Friser "The Myth of Prokhorovka" (part Articles "Historical description of the Battle of Kursk") were published in comments on social networks by the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav GladkovJudging by media reports, the attack was massive—screenshots from the museum's website were posted by several subscribers at once.
The main source of outrage was the paragraph that said that Soviet soldiers drank vodka and used psychotropic substances: “Attacking soldiers often fell into a kind of trance and were completely unresponsive to danger. The role vodka played in the fighting on the Eastern Front was no secret to the Germans. <…> According to two American military historians, the ferocious attack near Prokhorovka on July 12 could not have been carried out without the use of psychotropic drugs.».
Over the weekend, the conflict received reinforcements in the form of “heavy artillery” – as reported drew Attention State Duma deputy Alexander KhinshteinHe demanded that "an internal investigation be conducted and those responsible punished":
«[A German colonel] writes about our glorious soldiers as alcoholics, citing two American historians (!) <…> It would be good to conduct an audit of the staff for professional suitability <…> The museum's management should apologize to the participants of the Battle of Kursk and their relatives. And then start looking for new jobs.».
Since November 2022, the museum has been headed by Elena Chefonova, previously she headed the Department of Culture and was deputy head of administration Rakityansky district Belgorod region.
The German historian's text was partially translated and posted on the museum's website in 2012. As the museum explained, its purpose was to "show a view of the Battle of Kursk from the other side of the front":Working in archives – including those of the Soviet Union's enemies – is an integral part of research».
A note has now been placed above the text, stating that it is presented "as an example of the biased Western historiography of World War II and the Battle of Kursk," and that the author's position "does not coincide with the opinion of the diorama museum staff." The museum's management promised "to examine the advisability of publishing these materials" and check the statements for "compatibility with placement in a public space."
