Allied Atrocities: Kill the German!

By Ilya Ehrenburg ∙ January 1, 1942

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The following text is from premier Soviet propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg. Spurred on by this brand of ethnic hatred, it is no wonder that the Red Army committed such a vast number of atrocities.

“The Germans are not human beings. Henceforth the word German means to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger your rifle. We shall not speak any moe. We shall not get excited. We shall kill. If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have wasted that day… If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill him with your bayonet. If there is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian woman. If you kill one German, kill another – there is nothing more amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed. Kill the German – this is your old mother's prayer. Kill ther German – this is what your children beseech you to do. Kill the German – this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill.”

Text is found in Ilya Ehrenburg's book Vojna (The war) (Moscow, 1942-43)

  • Ilya Ehrenburg

    Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (born Jan. 26, 1891, Kyiv, Ukraine; died Aug. 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer, revolutionary, journalist, atrocity propagandist, inciter to mass murder and genocide, and a historical forgerer.

Bibliographic information about this document: Vojna (The War), Moscow, 1942
Other contributors to this document: n/a
Editor’s comments: Excerpt

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