This is an accurate depiction of the fate that descended on thousands upon thousands of Polish and German women at the hands of Red Army soldiers in the closing months of World War II. To be fair, it could be much more objectionable without exceeding the bounds of naturalism. For instance, her brains could be flying out the back of her head as the soldier achieves orgasm. So yes, this woman would be one of the lucky ones if she wasn't shot after she pulled the train.
The poor artist, a twenty-something art student up in Poland somewhere, is in a world of trouble for showing this piece. It might even be a hate crime!!! If hating these all-too-common aspects of war is a hate crime, kill me now.
The Russians are upset, somewhat predictably. I am the first to give the 1940's Soviet G.I. Joe his, and her, full measure of credit. They were amazingly tenacious and brave, and they rolled up the over-matched Germans like a damn crepe. Their great achievements are not, in my estimation, sullied by the facts that they were often drunk and that getting carried away with the revenge thing was a daily occurrence. Russian officialdom would have us delete all of this negativity and concentrate on the "heroic" part. How dare this Polish artist (that's an 0-2 count right there) draw attention to the "carried away" part?
I'm behind the artist all the way on this one. I do hope that fate doesn't fall on him too hard, like it did on the poor woman in the sculpture. The Russians can be as sensitive as they wish back in Russia, at home. They shouldn't be permitted to intimidate the rest of us.
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