Timothy Snyder: One should look for Nazism in Russia, not in Ukraine

American historian Timothy Snyder, an expert on Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust, stated that efforts to combat Nazism should focus on Russia. This response came during a congressional hearing on Chinese political warfare, where Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Ukraine of harboring Nazism.

“So when you wanna talk about misinformation, Mr. Snyder, you might actually look a little  closer to American media. If you don’t like what they are saying…“, said Taylor Greene.

Snyder expressed gratitude to the congresswoman for emphasizing, through her remarks, that discussions of war must include references to Russia, Ukraine, and the USA.

“On the question on Nazis, I’ve written two books as a historian – about Nazis and Holocaust. On the question of Ukrainian nationalism, I am the leading scholar of that subject in North America, I’ve been writing about it for 20 years. If the chamber is interested in the degree of far right participation in Ukrainian politics, you can be assured that no far-right party has ever crossed 3% in Ukrainian elections,” said Snyder.

“So, of course, there are bad people in every country. But by any comparative standard, [in Ukraine it] is a very small phenomenon. In Russia, on the other hand, the army includes openly Nazi formations, such as ‘Rusich.’ The government itself is fascist in character. And it is carrying out a war, which includes the deportation of children by the tens of thousands, the open intention of destroying a state, as well as mass torture. So, if we’re looking for fascism, and if there is anyone who is sincerely concerned about halting fascism and ruscism, you would wish to halt Russia,” concluded Snyder.

In his speech, the historian also emphasized that Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine based on a big lie about the Nazis.

“Even as we meet today, Russian (and Chinese) propaganda shapes House debates about Ukraine, the most important foreign policy decision of our time. In domestic politics, the most important matter in coming months the coming presidential election. … Beijing cares about Ukraine because it is the decisive conflict of our time,” Snyder said.