Overnight, Sergey Radchenko went viral for detailing the USSR's links to the KKE during the Greek Civil War.
Although a distinguished historian with countless lectures and successful books, he is not accustomed to this kind of attention.
Following the revelation of four new declassified documents of the former Soviet Union that he made a few days ago through his personal Twitter account, he came under fire from the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) General Secretary.
Among other things, KKE chief Dimitris Koutsoumpas described him - within the Greek parliament - as "Papara-chenko", with "papara" being Greek slang for penis.
The circulation of Koutsoumpas' speech against Radchenko has given the historian thousands of new followers on Twitter.
READ MORE: Greek Civil War: Molotov’s secret report to Stalin on how the USSR supplied weapons to the KKE.
To be precise, 3,000 new followers in just a few hours. Most of them were Greeks who wanted to express their support for the historian.
In hundreds of comments sent to him, they expressed their disagreement and their disgust for the verbal attack of the KKE leader, which in their eyes seemed anachronistic and unjust.
The historian welcomed them, urging them to read an interesting chapter from his book "NATO in the Cold War and After".
There is a chapter dedicated to Greek-NATO relations during the period in question - the Greek Civil War.
He said, in fact, impressed by the interest shown by Greeks for the past and history in general.
And seeing that I have added 3,000 Greek followers overnight for no apparent reason, let me say there’s a great chapter inside (open access) on Greece & NATO. By Ruud van Dijk and Stanley Sloan. 👍 pic.twitter.com/WUav2xoipJ
— Sergey Radchenko (@DrRadchenko) January 31, 2022
After being informed and watching the speech by Dimitris Koutsoumpas against him, Radchenko hastened to respond to those who - according to him - criticise historians.
"By reading more, he will form a more nuanced understanding of history - one that is perhaps less politicised but more in line with facts. And - the last thing - please don't attack historians. We are here for everyone's benefit," he wrote in a tweet.
By reading more, he will form a more nuanced understanding of history - one that is perhaps less politicised but more in line with facts. And - the last thing - please don't attack historians. We are here for everyone's benefit.
— Sergey Radchenko (@DrRadchenko) January 30, 2022
However, when several of his online friends asked him about his feelings towards communism, he did not hesitate to declare his position.
The academic declared himself an anti-communist.
"By the way, people who argue that I am an anti-Communist: I agree. Of course, I am an anti-Communist. I have first-hand experience of the USSR, which offered free-of-charge lifetime inoculation against Communism. No boosters required!" he tweeted.
By the way, people who argue that I am an anti-Communist: I agree. Of course, I am an anti-Communist. I have first-hand experience of the USSR, which offered free-of-charge lifetime inoculation against Communism. No boosters required!
— Sergey Radchenko (@DrRadchenko) February 1, 2022
In this way, Radchenko did not hide the motivation behind his academic career, which has focused not only on the Cold War, but also on the thorough study and decoding of the countless declassified documents that are slowly coming to light.
In a separate post, he makes sure to inform his colleagues, followers and friends who may have missed the online exchanges that he may not be aware of the grief caused by the publication of the declassified documents and the controversy that followed.
The historian refers them to the article first published by Nefeli Lygerou for Proto Thema and translated into English by Greek City Times.
Nefeli Lygerou is a columnist for Proto Thema.
