VOA标准英语2015--俄罗斯老兵回忆二战战事

Russian Veterans Recall Horrors of WWII Eastern Front 俄罗斯老兵回忆二战战事

LONDON—

Russia staged a huge military parade in Moscow Saturday to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in the World War II over Nazi¹ Germany. VOA spoke² to veterans of the conflict about their memories of the fighting, and their thoughts on current tensions between Russia and the West.

The scale of sacrifice still has the power to shock: An estimated 25 million Soviet³ soldiers and civilians⁴ died in World War II, the highest toll⁵ of any nation.

At his home near Moscow, war veteran Aleksandr Podobed proudly displays his medals as he prepares to attend the Victory Day events.

As a 12-year-old, he served as a spotter for partisan⁶ forces in occupied Belarus. Podobed recalled one occasion when he managed to distract a group of Nazi soldiers, who were about to stop a cart that was being used to smuggle⁷ supplies.

“I ran down the slope towars the soldiers,” he said. “They noticed me and shouted, 'Halt! Halt!' I kept running. They started to fire at me. I thought that they'd kill me. After I heard the cart pass safely, I fell down. The Germans dragged me and kicked my face with their boots. I was all beaten up.”

Fellow veteran Ivan Sokolov was stationed in Moscow as a cadet of the Artillery⁸ Academy, and later was an officer in the Artillery Corps⁹. He described the first Nazi air attacks in 1941.

He noted¹⁰ that Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had declared Russia would be burned down. "During the night of 21st July, at 22:10, 200 German planes began to destroy Moscow with incendiary bombs," he said.

The defense¹¹ of Stalingrad is synonymous with the carnage of the eastern front. Two million people died as Nazi forces tried unsuccessfully to take the city. Vladimir Ananyev was a sapper in the Red Army.

“At the time we firmly believed that Germans would kill us in any case,” he said. “And this very fact drove us to fight until the end — and we did, each one of us in his own way. We were doing what we were supposed to do.”

At the end of the war a huge victory parade was staged in Moscow’s Red Square.

Saturday’s anniversary parade is intended to honor the events of 70 years ago. But many Western leaders, including German Chancellor¹² Angela Merkel, have declined invitations to attend because of Russia’s military intervention¹³ in Ukraine. Veteran Sokolov said that was disrespectful.

“It hurts a lot,” he said, “because I went to Germany as a liberator¹⁴. So I am amazed that Merkel, who knows perfectly¹⁵ well that she was saved by the Russians, who gave her the opportunity to study and become a politician, declares that she won't come to see the parade.”

Victory Day should also be an occasion for reflection about the suffering that followed 1945 in the Soviet Union, historian Andrei Zubov said.

He said the Soviet Union’s totalitarian regime did not fall then, but became stronger. "And that is another reason why this was a victory ‘with tears in our eyes’ — not only because of huge losses, but also because the victory had not brought about the end of the totalitarian Stalinist regime," he said.

Surviving veterans have been given special medals to mark the 70th anniversary of Victory Day. But the growing tensions between Moscow and the West have cast a shadow over events to commemorate¹⁶ the victory over Nazi Germany.

1 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

7 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

13 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

14 liberator   

解放者

参考例句：

• The best integrated turf quality was recorded in Ram I、Midnight、America、Connie、Liberator, which could be adopted in Shanxi. RamI、Midnight、America、Connie、Liberator综合质量表现均衡且分值较高，是山西省推广应用的重点品种。
• It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old. 这是一部新世界的发展史，是一部后浪推前浪的历史。

15 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

16 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。