Pro-Kremlin channels are distributing a doctored video in which Catherine Himmler (granddaughter of Hitler’s henchman)

Propagandists “attributed” to a famous German statement about the “bloody dictator Zelensky”. Digest of the Center for Strategic Communications

Pro-Kremlin channels are distributing a video in which Catherine Himmler (granddaughter of Hitler’s henchman) allegedly reacted to the initiative to return Ukrainians from Europe to their homeland due to increased mobilization, urging “not to give Ukrainians to the bloody dictator Zelensky.”

This video was edited by propagandists from footage of Catherine Himmler, an archival chronicle of the times of the Third Reich, a video with the heads of the Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Germany, Dmytro Kuleba and Annalena Berbok, as well as other German politicians.

Catherine’s “statement” was superimposed on the video with subtitles. In fact, the German woman did not say such a thing.

No matter what was written there, it’s a fake, she said in a comment to Agentstvo.Multimedia.

Read more about the fakes that the Russian propaganda machine reproduces about famous German women on the Center’s website.

Author’s column
Monitoring
Russian propaganda
05/09/2024 11:08
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“A victory flag appeared again over the Reichstag”
Another famous German woman became the object of a fake
The participation of Ukrainians in the Second World War is “not important” to Russian schoolchildren
Putin bought a place in the parade for $26.7 million
“A victory flag appeared again over the Reichstag”

Russian counterfeiters finally got lazy. On the eve of May 9, many Russian mass media and Telegram channels were openly surprised by the news that allegedly “in Berlin, unknown heroes once again planted the Victory Banner on the roof of the Reichstag!”.


This video went viral on Telegram, Facebook, X, VKontakte, Instagram, Zen, and TikTok. It is claimed that the anonymous authors of the clip filmed the building of the German parliament from two different angles — and it shows a red curtain. According to the TGStat service, the total reach of posts about the “flag of victory over the Reichstag” in Telegram alone was more than 10 million views.

IN FACT , on Facebook (where the Russians work out 12 key topics against the Ukrainians at once ), the video is blocked and marked as “false information”.

In addition, this fake was already disproved last year : the flag over the Bundestag was drawn in a video editor. And with a mistake: in different fragments of the video, the canvas changes its orientation with respect to the handle.

Exactly one year ago, the German fact-checkers from the dpa project also presented their investigation of this flag-bearing fake. They said that the administration of the Bundestag knew nothing about the incident: “There, as usual, only the German and European flags fly on the four towers . “

This year, the Berlin police banned any symbols near Soviet monuments in the city and its surroundings on May 9. Russian flags, St. George’s ribbons, uniforms, orders, military and marching songs, as well as symbols glorifying Russia’s war against Ukraine, including the Z symbol, are prohibited on the territory of the memorials in Treptow, Tiergarten and Schönholzer Heide parks, as well as near them.

Another famous German woman became the object of a fake

Another example, to put it mildly, of “false information” related to Germany concerns Catherine Himmler (granddaughter of the same Hitler henchman), who allegedly reacted to the initiative to return Ukrainians from Europe to their homeland due to increased mobilization, calling “not to give Ukrainians to the bloody dictator Zelenskyi” .

This video was actively and deliberately distributed by pro-Kremlin channels as part of the disinformation “victory” program at the beginning of May.


IN FACT , the video is edited from footage from Catherine Himmler, an archival chronicle of the times of the Third Reich, a video with the heads of foreign affairs of Ukraine and Germany, Dmytro Kuleba and Annalena Berbok, as well as other German politicians.

Katrin’s “quote” is given in the credits superimposed on the clip: “This is the forcible displacement of free people from their places of residence under a legally justifiable pretext. We have seen this before in history, when people were forcibly resettled against their will. Now this is happening to Ukrainians at the behest of their own government. Such inhumane processes once began in Germany. And we all remember what they led to.”

These words are not simply invented. After all, Katrin is a famous writer and anti-fascist. This is what the faikomets tried to play on. But she did not make such a statement. “Even if it’s written there, it’s a fake , ” Katrin said in a comment to Agentstvo.Multimedia.

In April, we will remind , Russian fakers tried to link two more famous German women: former chancellor Angela Merkel and head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to Hitler. And in June last year, StopFake reported that Annalena Burbok was credited with a request “not to call the Leopard tanks provided to Ukraine German . ” At such a rate, Russian makeup artists will soon run out of famous German women.