About the unique military memoirs, a shadow military economy, an amnesty. A note.
There are unique memoirs about the Second World War, written by a man who received a unique life experience and who knew perfectly the language of opposite side.
The author of the memoirs managed to invent a plausible legend (for own person). He join the enemy tank unit as maintenance personnel.
The legal status of this man was determined by the benevolent attitude of the commander of the tank unit towards him. He did not have (full-fledged) documents of a military serviceman, but he had the right to refer to his belonging to a tank unit, he had regular meals, clothes, sometimes he had weapons, and he was assigned the duties of a supply and service personnel.
There were about 10-20 persons like him in this tank military unit.
From these unique military memoirs, we can get exclusive information about the shadow economy of the warring units.
Having read a number of military memoirs of military figures, I have not found such information in any book.
It is quite natural. The participants of the war did not like to talk about the war. Famous people wrote memoirs, but they couldn't talk about everything, either.
A small fragment almost such information is contained in one of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's stories. He described how in the end of the war the command of one artillery unit stopped in the evening at (in) a large German estate, sent a radio station to other settelment (to temporarily stop constant communication with higher command), prepared for a pleasant rest, and the artillery unit was attacked by the enemy at night and suffered noticeable losses. Who from the leadership of this artillery unit can write about such an event in their memoirs?
Not everything that is understandable to direct participants in military events is understandable to other people who are not directly involved in military events.
The same rule applies to the shadow military economy. As it is clear from the unique memoirs (of a person who joined the enemy tank unit as a maintenance staff), it is almost impossible to do without such an economy: there are a lot of supply needs, transportation, and household solutions, without which a military unit cannot function. Not all official structures are able to solve problems quickly and effectively, and not always. A military unit, of necessity, turns into an economic unit, in which a significant volume of shadow resources are rotating.
The person who directs the relevant military unit is deprived of the opportunity to inform "external circles" in more or less detail about such a shadow economy, since he puts himself and a number of other people in a vulnerable and ambiguous position (with such stories).
People who were at the bottom of the military hierarchy, as a rule, do not have relevant information, they do not write memoirs.
Thus, the more or less detailed public memoirs about a shadow war economy (written by one of its participants) are unique.
However, such a shadow economy is a fact, and such economy has, if not a legal, then a rational justification.
Even more dubious is the situation when such a "shadow economy" is forgiven to some, and reproached to others (to forgive "shadow military economy" to some, and blame others).
Thus, there is a need for military amnesty - for economic crimes - in relation to all persons who took direct part in military operations, to all those who were awarded orders and other high awards at the moment of prosecution.
Maybe people raising their hands in the center of a big city should not only engage in "assistance", in "a wide help" (in particular, the removal of relatives from "dangerous territories"), but also look at the situation more broadly, see at least three steps ahead?
August 19, 2024 03:54
Translation from Russian into English: August 19, 2024 04:51
Владимир Владимирович Залесский " Об уникальных военных мемуарах, теневой военной экономике, амнистии. Заметка ".
{ 3560. Об уникальных военных мемуарах, теневой военной экономике, амнистии. Заметка. - 19 августа 2024 г.
MMMDXXXI. About the unique military memoirs, a shadow military economy, an amnesty. A note. - August 19, 2024.
Vladimir Zalessky Internet-bibliotheca. Интернет-библиотека Владимира Залесского. }