According to the legend, Saint George came upon a kingdom beset by a foul, plague-breathing dragon. To appease the dragon, they began to give it a daily sacrifice of livestock, and later even their children. When the saint came along and killed the dragon, the grateful citizens embraced Christianity.
In Serbian folklore, the feast of Saint George is the beginning of hayduk season - guerrilla resistance to Ottoman overlords that had conquered Serb lands in the 15th century. The season traditionally ended on the feast of Saint Demetrius (Mitrovdan), October 26.
The distinctive orange/black ribbon shown above belongs to the Order of Saint George, the highest military decoration of Imperial Russia. During the Great Fatherland War (1941-45), the Soviets resurrected the ribbon to reward elite and Guards units, as well as individuals decorated for valor. The 1945 victory medal given to all veterans of the war also had the ribbon of Saint George. Starting with the 60th anniversary of the victory, in 2005, the ribbon has become a symbol of Russian patriotism and victory over the Nazis.
While Hitler was defeated in 1945, the Western allies immediately began using the Nazis and their sympathizers as allies in the struggle with "Communism" (i.e. the Soviet Union): from the actual Nazi scientists brought over in Operation Paperclip, to the Croatian Ustasha, Baltic Waffen-SS veterans and the Ukrainian Banderovtsi. Following the Soviet Union's demise in 1991, many of them, and their ideas, made a comeback - to the point where those who once fanatically served Hitler are now the most fanatical allies of NATO.
When I fly the ribbon of Saint George, I do it for my ancestors who fought the Turks for centuries, until they won their freedom. I do it for my grandfather, who survived a German POW camp; the grandmother I never knew; the scores of relatives murdered by the Ustasha. I do it to defy the Nazis, the Ustasha and the Banderovtsi today, to let them (and their sponsors!) know that they were defeated then, and will be defeated again.
Because they are the dragon. And the East remembers.
4 comments:
Un-related but you have been rumbled! - as we say in the UK
https://twitter.com/OliverKamm/status/463352493322559488
For those that don't know, Ollie is a rightwing uber Blairite, atlantacist and absurd crank who likes to think of himself as a 'journalist' and 'academic' (no-qualifications in either field). Through connexions and nepotism he went from writing snotty book reviews on Amazon to being a lead writer for The Times.
One of his gems was insisting that the UK government never sold weapons to Saddam Hussein only for his hero Blair to admit they had in his memoirs. Another was treating the sci-fi/WWII novel Slaughterhouse 5 as if was a historical document. He is also a proven plagiarist and liar.
I remember Kamm being an associate of Hoare and Co. in their jihad against me personally (and Serbs in general). I take pride in scum like that being my enemies; I'd seriously have to check myself if they approved of me...
Regarding St. George
I suppose that if the UK Government of Cameron Blair and others
had got its way in bombing Syria last year,
then we would have drop the
“Cry God for Harry, England and St. George”
From all future productions of Shakespeares productions of Henry V,
And just make it
“Cry God for Harry, England and ….(whoever)”
(St. George being a Syrian,of sorts)
Good thing the Russians stopped that, then.
Though the way things are going in Britain, they may soon abolish St. George anyway, since having a Christian patron saint is, I don't know, "raciss" or something.
Post a Comment