Victory Day

[mendeleyev]

Every year the annual celebration of Victory Day gets even better. We get goosebumps around the events and will try to relay some of the highlights each day.



The exact date is 9 May, but today and tomorrow foreign dignitaries will begin arriving in Moscow. Although large celebrations are staged each year in Kyiv (Kiev) and Minsk, as well as thousands of towns and villages across the whole FSU, it is customary for the President of Ukraine and Belarus to put in a brief appearance in Moscow before quickly flying back to their respective capitals.

If you'd like to watch the parade in Moscow, the Voice of Russia will broadcast a live video stream at this link: http://english.ruvr.ru/video

Preparations for the event are literally year-round but military troops have been using a practice stadium in a Moscow suburb for a couple of months to practice every parade step and vehicle movement down to the last detail. Today the parade was moved onto Red Square for an extensive rehearsal and that is how most Russians get to see it live as on the 9th the area will be off limits to anyone without a special Kremlin issued pass.

In all, over 11,000 military personnel will march on May 9. Units will represent the Russian Army infantry, the Air Force, the Navy, as well as battalions of Aerospace Defense and Strategic Missile Forces. The President of the Russian Federation will deliver a short speech and traditionally in attendance is the German head of state.





Most Western European countries observe the event on May 8, but due to having no officially recognized representation at the first signing of surrender it was past midnight on 9 May in Moscow when Marshall Zhukov was present to witness the German surrender being signed.

[ML]

Jim, when visiting the various War Museums, etc. in FSU, I was struck by fact that the war was not fought against the Germans at all.

Rather, it was fought against the Nazi's.

I guess that is a nod to the German tourist money.

[Boethius]

Jim, when visiting the various War Museums, etc. in FSU, I was struck by fact that the war was not fought against the Germans at all.

Rather, it was fought against the Nazi's.

I guess that is a nod to the German tourist money.

More accurately, the фашисты (fascists).   
 
Notwithstanding a huge ethnic German minority, and the fact that it was ethnic Germans who founded the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian naval schools, founded the study of ethnography in Russia, wrote many of its histories, were a large part of the diplomatic corps in Tsarist times, and were even used by the Soviets in the race for the atomic bomb, there was always a resentment toward ethnic Germans in both Tsarist Russia and the USSR.  Anti German pogroms were common in Russia on the outbreak of WWI, and to survive, ethnic Germans Russified their surnames. 

The attitude toward Germans during Soviet times was very negative, I witnessed it firsthand.

[Darth_Budda]

Well Russia had a rather large population of ethnic Germans living in Russia before WWII..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germans_in_Russia,_Ukraine_and_the_Soviet_Union

5th largest ethnic group according to 2002 census...

To explain why their are so many ethnic Germans in Russia would take to long to write out...
But basically trade from northern German trading leagues with Muscovy and Novgorod..

Also the christian Germans brought in to settle the Crimea after the Russians kicked out the ottoman empire.

[mendeleyev]

Jim, when visiting the various War Museums, etc. in FSU, I was struck by fact that the war was not fought against the Germans at all.

Rather, it was fought against the Nazi's.

Yes, of course. The official phrase is "war of Nazi aggression."

[mendeleyev]

5th largest ethnic group according to 2002 census

I've always marveled at the distribution of Moscow radio signals which at times has included two German language radio stations.

[mendeleyev]

Anti German pogroms were common in Russia on the outbreak of WWI, and to survive, ethnic Germans Russified their surnames. 

Yes, and then there are towns like Orenburg / Оренбург which is curiously enough a mixture of Slavic and ethnic Asians. I enjoy Orenburg, the "burg" is from the German name for "fortress" and was first established as a fortress near the border of Kazakhstan.

One of the cool features of Orenburg is being able to walk across a bridge and cross the river from Europe into Asia and vice versa. If you do stroll across the bridge don't worry, you're still in the mid south of Russia and would need to walk another 3472 miles before reaching the Russian shores of the Sea of Japan. To put those 3472 miles into perspective, if you turned the other direction instead and walked 5550 miles toward Europe you'd end up in Washington, DC, well assuming that you could walk part of the way on water.

[mendeleyev]

Photographer Boris Mavlyutov captured this quiet war memorial in a small Ukrainian village.

[CanadaMan]

Every year the annual celebration of Victory Day gets even better. We get goosebumps around the events and will try to relay some of the highlights each day.



The exact date is 9 May,

Every year I get slighted on Victory Day.
My birthday gets lost in the shuffle.

We usually go out to celebrate Mother's Day at the same time to kill two/three birds with one stone, further complicating matters.   

[mendeleyev]

As this news story seems intertwined with Victory Day activities I've posted it here in this thread.

(The Mendeleyev Journal)

Tuesday, 7 May 2013, was the first visit for the new Secretary of State to travel to Moscow and in characteristic Putin form, their meeting started 3 hours late. Secretary Kerry was ushered into the Kremlin by Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov and seated across from President Putin.





Mr. Kerry has his own characteristic quirks too--he likes to talk--and he'd hardly been seated before proclaiming the meeting a success which represented the opening of a new relationship between Russia and the United States.

Across the other side of the table Mr. Putin fiddled with his pen while Kerry spoke and when it came time for Mr. Putin to speak he was silent on the subject of Syria, the reason for the Kerry trip.





Transcript of their public remarks:

(President Putin) 

Mr Secretary of State, colleagues,
We are very happy to welcome you to Moscow. I am glad that we are continuing our contacts with our US colleagues regularly and at all levels.

Just recently, Mr. Obama and I had two fairly lengthy, substantive telephone conversations and had the chance to discuss many aspects of our relations. I received his written message through Mr Donilon. We are currently preparing a response.

I hope to soon meet with him in person. We will have opportunities to do so several times this year. I feel it is very important that our key ministries, including our foreign ministries, are working jointly to resolve the most difficult problems in the world today.

We are truly happy to see you, because this is an opportunity to personally discuss the problems we feel are important.




(US Secretary Of State John Kerry)

Thank you very, very much, Mr President.

I’m really happy to be here to see you. I appreciate your welcome and I’ve had a terrific opportunity to work with your foreign minister (Sergei Lavrov) on any number of issues and we’re very appreciative for his diligence and cooperation.

Mr President, I also am honoured to be here on the eve of your Victory Day celebration. I had the pleasure of walking through Red Square and seeing the preparations and I even met with some of your veterans. I had a chance to talk with them about their experiences. And I think many people in the United States and elsewhere are not fully aware of the enormous contribution of Russia, the amazing sacrifices and the great effort made as a partner and ally to win that war. We thank you for that great cooperation.

Mr President, as you know better than anybody, there are enormous challenges today that require the same level of cooperation. And I’m very happy that our professionals are working together now to work, to deal with some of the issues of the bombing that took place in Boston, and we thank you for that cooperation.

And Mr President, I bring you President Obama’s greetings. He related to me the substance of his conversations with you, for which he was very grateful. And he is looking forward to seeing you on the side of the G8 in Ireland and would reiterate that there are many issues – economic cooperation, the challenges of North Korea, Iran, Syria, and many other issues – on which he believes we could cooperate very significantly.

And finally, Mr President, I know that we’ll have a chance to talk about it seriously in a few moments, but we really believe, the United States believes, that we share some very significant common interests with respect to Syria: stability in the region, not having extremists creating problems throughout the region and elsewhere. And I think we have both embraced, in the Geneva Communique, a common approach. So it’s my hope that today, we’ll be able to dig into that a little bit and see if we can find a common ground.

President Obama particularly feels that cooperation between Russia and the United States with respect to economic issues is something that would be of enormous benefit to both, and Russia’s leadership is so key on so many of those issues. We look forward to working with you. So thank you very, very much for seeing me here today.

Thank you, Mr President.


Although he claimed not to be put off by the 3 hour delay, Mr. Kerry had spent some of that time on his cell phone while standing just outside the State Historical Museum near the Kremlin entrance in what looked to be an intense conversation, perhaps with officials or staff in Washington but on that we're not clear.

So what kept Mr. Putin so long? President Putin has a reputation for being late even to meetings of state but according to his schedule during the time he was supposed to be with Mr. Kerry he met with staff to go over details of recent executive orders, some of which were related to the upcoming Victory Day parade activities. He also took time to meet with the heads of several Children's health ministers and he had a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Mr. Kerry and President Putin discussed the recent Israeli air strikes and perhaps he was conferring with Mr. Netanyahu for updated information.

Upon arriving in Moscow the Kremlin area hotel hosting Secretary Kerry was filled with tanks and missile trucks as the Russian military was practicing for the large Victory Day parade on Thursday, 9 May. Upon Kerry's arrival at the airport, US Ambassador Michael McFaul joked with Mr. Kerry that he couldn't get a room because the hotel was surrounded by tanks.




Mr. Kerry was taken first to the United States Embassy were he was greeted in the traditional Russian greeting with bread and salt. Later he and Ambassador McFaul had a brief tour of Red Square and area around the Kremlin.



Relations between the two countries have been tense over differences in how to deal with Syria but Mr. Kerry said they would try to "bring both sides to the table." Prior to meeting with President Putin, Mr. Kerry laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers which is located along one of the Kremlin walls.

[mendeleyev]

Leading up to tomorrow's Victory Day celebration, in this report we'll take a look at some of the symbols of Victory Day.   



Ribbons are symbolic in Russia and this "Ribbon of Saint George" using the gold and black colours of the Imperial Russian coat of arms is the symbol associated with Victory Day.

The Ribbon of St George/Order of Glory is incorporated into most materials associated with the Victory Day celebrations. The ribbon comes from the Order of Saint George, established in 1769 as the highest military decoration of Imperial Russia and carried over into Soviet tradition.



Using the colours and symbolism of the Order of Saint George, in 1943 the Order of Glory was created by the Soviet Union and awarded to non-commissioned officers and non raking members of the armed forces for bravery in battle. Over time the colours and ribbon has become associated with all those who served.

Suggestion: If you have a lady and/or friends in the FSU, right now would be a good time to copy and email one of these ribbon symbols to your friend. A simple copy and past of this: с Днем Победы "with the day of Victory" would be nice to copy and paste. You won't have to say much else as one look at the ribbon and she'll know exactly what you mean.

[mendeleyev]

Tomorrow, 9 May, will mark the 68th anniversary of the end of the "Great Patriotic War" (called World War II in the West) and another grand parade will roll across the majestic expanse of Red Square in Moscow. 11,000 soldiers will march in perfect coordination and hundreds of military vehicles, airplanes and strategic nuclear forces will be on parade.



(Victory Day 2013 dress rehearsal.)

Sometimes we're asked why this is such a big deal in the former Soviet Union and why towns and villages all over the region celebrate with parades of their own. The answer is both complex and simple: Not a single family was spared death and destruction. The Nazi invasion saw 26 to 28 million Soviet citizens die. Soldiers, children, grandparents, parents, Uncles, Aunts, cousins and friends perished either in direct battle, from bombs or things like fires or from starvation. Blood flowed on the streets and rivers ran red in some battles.




At Moscow's Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill there are 1,418 fountains - one for every day of the war.

Tomorrow every family will sit for dinner at a table with empty seats: usually more than one family member is missing whether they be grandparents or parents or sons/daughters. So when you see those scenes on the news tomorrow night from the main celebration on Moscow's Red Square, understand that such parades took place by the thousands from small villages to large towns all across the region known as the former Soviet Union.

The price they paid was enormous, so yes, it is a very big deal.

[mendeleyev]

Сегодня и года уже седы
С тех пор, как минула война,
Но поздравляет с Днем Победы
Дедов и прадедов страна.
Спасибо, милые, родные,
Нас защищавшие тогда
И отстоявшие Россию
Ценою ратного труда.
Мы поздравляем вас с любовью,
И правнуки запомнят день,
Омытый вашей чистой кровью,
Когда вовсю цвела сирень.

[mendeleyev]

[mendeleyev]

Victory Day trivia:


Q: When was was the biggest Victory Day celebration in Moscow history?

A: 2010 was the 65th anniversary and included marching troops from the USA, United Kingdom, France and several other Allies, a first.





Q: In what year did NATO and Russian navies share in patrolling the Baltic waters? During joint exercises, American, French, British and Russian warships repelled air and sea attacks and put their anti-missile defenses to test.  After the exercises were completed that June 30th, the fleets sailed into St. Petersburg for a official review and the chance for NATO sailors to drink beer in a Russian port.

A: 2012





Q: In which USA presidential election did a certain party's convention staffers display on giant screens a Russian Navy flotilla while honouring American troops and playing of the national anthem?

A: 2012, the Democratic convention for the re-election of President Barack Obama. Convention officials later apologized. The young staffers responsible for the display didn't know the difference between US and Russian Navy ships and displayed scenes of the Russian Navy on the Black Sea, thinking them to be American ships. Ah, they do fly flags...





Q: What did German soldiers call the Russian infantrymen?

A: Ivans. Let's hope they at least pronounced it correctly...."E-vahn" instead of the common mistake of "I-van."





Q: Who is the most controversial personality surrounding the annual Victory Day celebrations?

A: Look up, there's your sign. None other than Иосиф Виссарионович Джугашвили (Iosof Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili), more commonly known as Joseph Stalin.





Q: What was "tushonka" to Russian infantrymen?

A: The canned greasy meat ration tushonka was called "mystery meat" by soldiers. Some canned rations were from the USA and was a mush of spam, potatoes and corn. Stalin ordered it re-labeled before it could be sent to the field and most soldiers preferred it to the "tushonka" from Russian production which was a mixture of pork, beef, and horse. Soldiers were allotted 900 calories daily.




(Medical Sisters = Nurses)


Q: Who was Zoya Kosmodemyansky?

A: Zoya Kosmodemvansky was the first woman partisan to receive Russia's highest award, Hero of the Soviet Union. She is the most famous Russian partisan to have received the award posthumously because she was captured by the Germans and hanged. Her brother, Alexander Kosmodemyansky (1925-45) was also made a Hero of the Soviet Union.





Q: Is it true that the Red Army used suicide dogs to bomb German tanks?

A: Yes, the Soviets tried to train dogs to destroy enemy tanks. Fitted with explosives under their bellies, the dogs were trained to crawl under a tank. The device would be triggered by timer and so much for the tank...and the dog. You only got one chance to get it right and unfortunately the dogs had been trained using Soviet tanks so you can guess where they tried to run first. Although the dog bomb idea wasn't a complete success, in the battles for Kursk and Stalingrad bomb dogs were credited with around 25 kills of German tanks.





(Red Army pilot Ivan Kozhedub was credited with 62 kills.)
 

Q: What was the longest battle of the Great Patriotic War (WWII)?

A: The Siege of Leningrad began on 8 September 1941 and lasted until 27 January 1944, a total of 872 days. Given that the Leningrad leadership had been in power so long without daily contact with Moscow, Stalin feared they would be too independent after the war so he transferred key leaders into temporary positions in Moscow where most were eventually shot.






Q: Who was the young ace Russian lady pilot known by the radio call sign "White Lily" and shot down and killed over the Ukrainian village of Kozhevnya before the end of the war?

A: Lilia Litvyak, her story is told in the book "Call Sign White Lily" by Matthew Crisci.

(Shameless plug for my friend Matthew who authored a very fine book about Lily.)

[mendeleyev]

On the eve of the Victory Day, Vladimir Putin honoured the memory of the fallen in the Great Patriotic War as he laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden by the Kremlin wall.



Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Ivanov, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, Council of Federation Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, President of the Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin, heads of ministries and agencies, and representatives of political parties and war veterans’ organizations also took part in the ceremony commemorating the 68^th anniversary of victory.



The Presidential Orchestra played the Russian national anthem and there was a ceremonial march by servicemen from the Moscow Military Garrison, representing all branches of the Armed Forces.



Vladimir Putin also laid flowers at the memorial signs established in honour of the hero-cities by the Kremlin wall and memorial signs of the Cities of Military Glory.

[ML]

Q: What did German soldiers call the Russian infantrymen?

A: Ivans. Let's hope they at least pronounced it correctly...."E-vahn" instead of the common mistake of "I-van."

Jim, the idea of a 'mistake' is misplaced.

Not sure about pronunciation by Germans, but the pronunciation by English as "I-van" is correct . . . as is is translated by official Russian rules.

The mistake comes in this official rule.

Yes, of  course,  Russian and Ukrainian can pronounce the names, Ivan, Irina, etc., any way they want when they are spelled in Cyrillic.

However, it has caused serious  problems when they mistranslated these names into Latin characters.

If the correct pronunciation is Evon and Ereena,  then that is how the official translation and names on passports should be spelled.

[Shadow]

ML I am aware that modern translation is concerned more about phonetics than about proper names. However in the past using proper names that correspond in alphabet was more important as phonetics.
My own name is English in origin, and people would be mighty surprised if I started writing it in the phonetic version instead of the usual one.

As for Germans, considering their phonetics they would use E-van instead of e-VAHN, as one of the main differences is that in Russian the emphasis is often on the second syllable where German (and Dutch) emphasises the first.
A mispronounciation towards the English 'I' (ay) would never be made by native Germans.

[mendeleyev]

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Citizens of Russia, war veterans, soldiers and sailors, sergeants and petty officers, warrant officers and midshipmen! Officers, generals and admirals,

Congratulations on Victory Day! This is the day of our nation’s glory, the nation that routed Nazism!

Sixty-eight years have passed since end of the Great Patriotic War, but the memory of the war does not fade, it passes on from generation to generation, from parents to children, from heart to heart.

The might behind this righteous unity is love for Russia, our home, our relatives and our family. These values bring us together today. Our entire nation fought valiantly to defend them.

We will always remember that it was Russia and the Soviet Union that disrupted the inhuman, bloody, arrogant plans of the Nazis and did not allow them to take over the world.

Our soldiers fought for freedom and independence, and in defending their homeland without sparing themselves, they liberated Europe and triumphed in a victory that will remain in history forever.

Esteemed veterans, you have always considered the welfare and security of the Motherland as your highest goal. Patriotism sealed your military brotherhood, towered over the enemy, was your mainstay in the fierce battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and the Dnieper, gave you strength through the torment of the siege of Leningrad, tempered your spirit in innumerable nameless battles, supported you through the gruelling labour in the rear. Your sacrifices and losses are immeasurable. We will always honour your feat, mourn the dead and tortured, and uphold the truth about the war.

Throughout history our ancestors achieved the greatest peaks of valour and courage in the name of the Fatherland, amazed the world with their courage and unity, and knew how to win. These traditions are an example for younger generations, and they have proven it time and again defending the sovereignty and interests of the Motherland.

We remember what the tragedy of war means and will do everything – absolutely everything – to make sure that no one will ever dare to unleash it again, to threaten our children, our home, our land. We will do everything to strengthen security in the world.

The victory in May 1945 is the sound of a great bell that celebrates life without war, a sacred symbol of loyalty to our Motherland which lives in each of us, a symbol of unity of the multinational people of Russia and their boundless devotion to their roots and history.

It is our duty to live up to the hopes of our honoured grandfathers and fathers, to overcome all the difficulties and obstacles, and give our children a prosperous, free and strong Russia.

Glory to the victorious nation!

Happy holiday! Happy Victory Day!

Glory to Russia! Hooray!


Mendeleyev note: The pointed absence of any recognition of Allied assistance, something for which Stalin begged the West to engage, is a reflection of the icy relations now between Mr. Putin and the West, and in particular the United States.

Mr. Putin will host UK Prime Minister David Cameron tomorrow in Moscow.

[Muzh]

If the correct pronunciation is Evon and Ereena,  then that is how the official translation and names on passports should be spelled.

This is the typical arrogant American response.
 
I was looking for a CBS analyst rant on live TV during a major PGA tournament. The man felt so ashamed that American media did such a poor piss job in pronunciating names from other countries while the other countries would put the extra effort in pronouncing the names properly.
 
But this will have to do.
 

 
 
BTW, the CBS analyst was American.
 

[Boethius]

No Victory Day celebration in Ukraine is complete without this -

 

[calmissile]

Mendy,
Thanks for all the wonderful info you have provided. 

I just got off Skype with my gal in Kiev, and she indicated that all the same celebrations are occuring in Ukriane as well.

[mendeleyev]

A glimpse at celebrations around the region;

From Odessa:




Kyiv/Kiev:




Kemerovo:

[SANDRO43]

Apropos of WWII on the Russian front, I just found on Youtube an interesting series of Russian-made documentaries called Soviet Storm: WW2 in the East covering land, sea and air battles: a mixture of period films (B/W & colour), photos, animated battle maps and recreated battlefield scenes, etc. The commentary is in (British) English .

Here's one covering the battle of the Kursk salient (45'):

[mendeleyev]

Very interesting.