Marijn Markus

AI Lead | Managing Data Scientist | Public Speaker

Universiteit Utrecht  Capgemini

Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands

May 4, 2025

🚩 Today, Russia held a Victory Day parade — featuring children.
Dressed in #military uniforms. Marching in formation. Waving flags glorifying a “special military operation.”

Some of those children might even be Ukrainian.
Taken from occupied territories. Re-educated. Reprogrammed.

Used as symbols — not seen as human beings with their own identities and futures.

Is this how they plan to stop #Ukraine from shooting? By putting children in front of tanks?

That’s not patriotism.
That’s child aвuse.

🧠 This is the #psychology of #propaganda

Early indoctrination is powerful. Children’s brains are still developing; they absorb narratives before they can critically question them.

When pride, fear, and identity are fused with war — truth becomes irrelevant.

This is not new. Authoritarian regimes have long used children to protect their image, soften their cruelty, and create obedient generations.

📣 Joseph Goebbels, Hiтleг’s own propaganda minister, once said:
“Give me the child for the first seven years and I’ll give you the man.”

Russia is taking that playbook and updating it for 2025.

☝️ Propaganda works not because it lies outright — but because it warps emotions and perceptions.

It uses symbols like parades, music, uniforms — things that feel innocent — to justify hoггоrs.

It manipulates love for one’s country into haтгed for others, dehumanizing and justifying crimes against them.

🚨 It builds “us vs. them” thinking — and teaches children that peace is weakness and war is pride.

So let me say this plainly: using children for war crimes is еvіl.
It’s not complicated.

And it’s not “culture” – it’s aвuse.

It’s a crime against the child’s mind and #future

The danger today is not just the tanкs and вomвs — it’s the lies and silence, that create conditions for the вomвs to start flying

Nauseating video here :

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marijnmarkus_military-ukraine-psychology-activity-7324726174071275520-d99A?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAAbzsX4Bd5uGRRvx_FE5Zra0KIdYj1g_WBs

……….

Today is May 4th, Dutch Remembrance Day.
I reflect on my hometown #Rotterdam

We in the #Netherlands thought war wouldn’t come to us.
After all, saying you’re ‘neutral’ worked in WWI, right?
But in 1940, it turned out we were wrong.

💣 Rotterdam was turned into a crater by German 𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐛s. The heart of the city was flattened in minutes. Over 800 civilians lost their lives, and tens of thousands lost their homes.

My country was occupied. And we only live in freedom today thanks to the sacrifice of others, who came to liberate us.

🏢 And Rotterdam rose again.
Today, my city is a centre of modern #architecture in Europe – big roads, efficient public transport…and barely a building older than 80 years. A city rebuilt from ruin.

History repeats itself – when we let it.

💔 What happened to Rotterdam is now happening to #Ukraine too,
Cities destroyed. Lives uprooted. Futures stolen.

But like Rotterdam, I know Ukraine can be rebuilt – after victory.

And that victory demands more than just drones and weapons.
It demands will, unity, and moral clarity.

❗ Because today too we see the same 𝐝𝐞𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 that led to WWII.

“Never Again” wasn’t just about the Jews.
It was about never again dehumanizing others to justify atrocities.

World War II wasn’t just about defeating an external enemy – it was about overcoming the darkest parts within all of us, within ourselves.
And to not let those mistakes repeat.

Our ancestors stood up. They resisted 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞, rebuilt nations, and gave us the freedom we enjoy today.

⚖️ We must live up to their legacy – of those who fought for justice and #democracy – all gifts we today take for granted.

And we become unworthy of those great gifts,
If we fail to defend those same values now.

Standing up for justice and humanity is not optional – it’s a duty.

Let’s not allow history to repeat.

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