Hitler’s greatest roulettian gamble was Operation Barbarossa. This was his code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union that got rolling in June 1941 and ended almost four years later with the Red Army marching into Berlin shouting "Hitler kaputt." The result of all of this battling was a lot of horrific superlatives: the largest invasion in the history of warfare, as well as the largest military operation ever in terms of both manpower and casualties. In fact, Barbarossa was responsible for 95% of all German casualties from 1941 to 1944 and caused the deaths of virtually countless millions of civilians on both sides.
Meanwhile, in Petersburg some evocative grafitti appeared on a wall not far from the Fontanka Canal.
Putler kaputt? That play on words aims at associating Putin with Germany's fascist dictator. But Putin is clearly not kaputt, not yet. We'll see what happens as the wheel keeps spinning.
Putler Kaputt
[originally published 17 December 2011]
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