俄羅斯陰影 "二戰歐洲勝利日"的不安

The 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war in Europe will this week be commemorated in towns and cities across the continent. On this occasion, the celebration will be especially poignant. It will probably be the last important Victory Day anniversary involving veterans and survivors of the conflict, men and women who bear direct witness to its horror. What will also be unsettling is that it arises at a moment of acute diplomatic tension between Russia and the west.

本週，歐洲大陸的各個城鎮將舉行二戰結束70週年紀念活動。這一次的慶祝活動將尤爲令人心碎。它很可能將成爲有那場衝突的老兵與倖存者、直接目睹了二戰之恐怖的男女參加的最後一個重大的勝利日週年慶典。另外，此次慶祝髮生在俄羅斯與西方外交緊張頗爲尖銳的時刻，也將令人不安。

Nowhere will east-west divisions be more apparent than in Moscow itself. Ten years ago, at the 60th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War, as it is known in Russia, the leaders of the US, France and Germany joined President Vladimir Putin for the May 9 victory parade in Red Square.

莫斯科本身將最明顯地展現東西方的分裂。10年前，在俄羅斯所稱的偉大衛國戰爭(Great Patriotic War)結束60週年紀念之際，美國、法國和德國的領導人跟弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)一起參加了5月9日的紅場(Red Square)勝利閱兵式。

This year, they and other western leaders will be absent. Mr Putin is likely to use the occasion to aggrandise his regime after its seizure of Crimea and its incursion into eastern Ukraine. Western leaders have made clear that they do not want to be part of the show.

今年，他們和其他西方領導人將缺席紅場。在吞併克里米亞和入侵烏克蘭東部之後，普京很可能利用這一機會誇耀他的政權。西方領導人已明確表示，他們不想參與這場表演。

Anyone contemplating the scale of suffering in the second world war is bound to regret their absence from Moscow on Saturday.

任何思量二戰造成多大苦難的人，註定會對他們週六不去莫斯科感到遺憾。

The Soviet Union lost more than 20m citizens and its role in defeating Nazi Germany was greater than that of any other state. The number who died in the siege of Leningrad exceeded the total losses of British and US forces combined in the entire war.

蘇聯在二戰期間失去了逾2000萬公民，蘇軍在擊敗納粹德國方面發揮的作用大於其他任何國家。列寧格勒圍城戰中的陣亡人數超過了英美軍隊在整個二戰期間的陣亡總人數。

The battles of Stalingrad and Kursk were turning points of the conflict. Russia’s role was central and critical and this should never be forgotten by historians.

斯大林格勒戰役及庫爾斯克戰役是第二次世界大戰的轉折點。俄羅斯在這場戰爭中扮演了核心且至關重要的角色，歷史學家們永遠不應該遺忘這一點。

The 70th anniversary ought also to be a moment when the world comes together — not only to honour those who gave their lives to defeat Nazi tyranny but to recognise the difficult moral lessons of the conflict. The world did not prevent the Holocaust of European Jewry. The saturation bombing of Hamburg and Dresden was excessive. The Red Army committed hideous war crimes, notably the destruction of the Polish officer corps at Katyn. The second world war was not the simple tale of good defeating evil that is often served up.

二戰結束70週年也應該是全世界聚在一起的時刻——不僅是爲了緬懷那些爲打敗納粹暴政而獻出生命的人，也是爲了重溫這場戰爭期間艱難的道德教訓。世界沒有阻止歐洲猶太人遭遇大屠殺。盟軍對漢堡(Hamburg)和德累斯頓(Dresden)的飽和轟炸過分了。蘇聯紅軍犯下了可怕的戰爭罪行，特別是在卡廷(Katyn)大規模屠殺波蘭軍官。二戰並不像經常被敘述的那樣，是一個正義戰勝邪惡的簡單故事。

Yet the absence of western leaders from Moscow, while regrettable, is understandable. Mr Putin’s annexation of Crimea and his incursions into Ukraine are the first redrawing of the map of Europe by force since the end of the cold war.

不過，西方國家領袖缺席莫斯科，儘管令人遺憾，但也是可以理解的。普京吞併克里米亞及入侵烏克蘭的行爲，是自冷戰結束以來首次有人用武力改寫歐洲版圖。

Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine has been contained but it has not been stopped. This makes any show of western solidarity with Mr Putin impossible at present.

俄羅斯對烏克蘭東部地區的侵略迄今遭到遏制，但並未被完全阻止。這使西方目前不可能展露出任何與普京團結的跡象。

The likely tone of next week’s celebration in Moscow would also make western leaders uncomfortable. Russian state propaganda repeatedly links the victory against Nazism with recent events in Ukraine, describing the pro-European Ukrainians who toppled President Viktor Yanukovich as fascists and Nazi collaborators. The May 9 commemoration in Red Square is unlikely to show restraint in using history as a propaganda weapon.

下週在莫斯科舉行的慶祝活動，也很可能帶有讓西方領導人不爽的基調。俄羅斯國家宣傳機構一再將打敗納粹的勝利與烏克蘭最近發生的事件聯繫在一起，將推翻烏克蘭前總統維克多•亞努科維奇(Viktor Yanukovich)的親歐洲烏克蘭人描述爲法西斯分子和納粹幫兇。在5月9日的紅場紀念活動中，俄羅斯把歷史當做宣傳武器方面的行徑也不太可能有所剋制。

At this solemn moment, the west’s leaders should take the opportunity to declare that whatever differences they have with Mr Putin, they have none with the people of Russia.

在這個莊嚴的時刻，歐洲領導人應該藉此機會宣告，無論他們與普京的分歧有多大，他們與俄羅斯人民是一致的。

Mr Putin may wish to use Victory Day as an exercise in militaristic posturing that puffs up his regime. But the millions of Russians and other former Soviet peoples who fought heroically to rid the world of Nazism deserve better.

軍國主義的裝腔作勢使普京政權擺出強悍姿態，他或許希望把勝利日當做又一個這樣的機會。但是，當年英勇戰鬥、幫助世界擺脫納粹魔掌的數以百萬計的俄羅斯人和其他前蘇聯人民，理應得到更好的紀念。

In Russia and beyond, they should be honoured for the extraordinary sacrifices they made — and for no other purpose.

在俄羅斯和其它地方，人們應該在沒有其它目的的前提下，對他們做出的巨大犧牲致敬。