It does feel like a little bit 1939. That’s when Bernard Shaw won an Oscar for writing the screenplay for Pygmalion, which later became the famous Broadway musical My Fair Lady. A lot of other stuff, much of it bad, happened that year. For example, the start of World War II.
The year also marks the German-Russian liberation campaign in Poland. Every fifth Ukrainian died from then until 1944, in Belarus — one in four.
On June 6, Uncle Joe and Z are scheduled to attend the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. The two leaders are expected a week later in Fasano, Italy for the G7 pow wow. No one expects Vova to attend either event because he is too busy invading Ukraine.
The video shows Vovchansk looks like as of yesterday. The town of 18,000 people in northeastern Kharkiv region has been flattened. Reuters has more info here about the carnage.
We are still in 1938, but Ukraine, unlike Czechoslovakia, has decided to fight. That’s the historical allegory Timothy wants us to think about (so that we’re not in another 1939 situation, which we are).
Anyway, that’s what I thought about during my walk to work.
Have a great weekend!