Journey to the Colder Side of the Earth: Victory Day

Hello!

This past Monday, May 9th, marked one of the most important holidays in Russia: Victory Day. Victory Day celebrates the victory of the Soviet Union over the Germans in World War II (or as it is referred to in Russia, the Great Patriotic War). The Soviet Union suffered more people killed and more devastation during the Second World War than any other country, and the tremendous suffering of the war and the subsequent defeat of Germany are subjects of great national pride and remembrance.

Throughout Russia, the day is celebrated with fireworks, parades, concerts, banners, and speeches. Moscow and St. Petersburg are home to particularly large celebrations. The Second World War is particularly important to St. Petersburg because of the three year blockade that the city suffered from 1941 to 1944 in which over a million residents of the city died, mostly from starvation. The war and the blockade are deeply embedded into the city's memory, and both of these events are remembered each year on Victory Day. While the war has reached near-mythic status in Russia to the point that some of the realities of the conflict have been obscured or are intentionally looked over (something that is by no means a uniquely Russian feature when it comes to nations remembering their wars), the annual parade is a major event, and Amanda and I went to watch it down on Nevsky Prospect.

Crowds lined up all along Nevsky Prospect to cheer for military units and shout words of thanks to surviving veterans from the war. It is difficult to imagine that it was only 66 years ago that the Second World War ended. Standing in the middle of downtown St. Petersburg it feels like an eternity away from a time when all of Europe seemed to be on fire and engulfed in the flames of war. I pray that such times will not soon return to the earth.

Here are some of the pictures that we took!

The Russian flag and the Victory Banner, which was raised over the Reichstag when the Soviets captured Berlin.

Nevsky Prospect lined with flags and banners for the parade.

More street decorations commemorating the end of the war.

The ribbon of St. George (here on Amanda's purse). This ribbon was once part of the Order of St. George, the highest military honor of Tsarist Russia, which was reintroduced during the Second World War and has become one of the main symbols of Victory Day. These ribbons were handed out all over the city in the days leading up to May 9th, and the orange and black colors featured prominently on many banners around the city.

A military marching band, one of several which were part of the parade.

Jeeps carrying veterans.

Current soldiers carrying flags.

Trucks representing veterans from the different regions of St. Petersburg. This particular truck is for the Vasilievsky region, where we live.

The banner reads "Communist Party of the Russian Federation." The Communist Party still exists in Russia, a dwindling but controversial reminder of Russia's recent history. The Communists march in the parade each year. The Communist Party is not nearly as powerful and influential as it was in the early 1990s (and of course much less influential than it was during Soviet times), but continues to exist. Many Russians, particularly older ones, look back on the Soviet Union as a period of security and stability and wish for a return to communism. While most younger Russians have no desire for this, feelings about the Soviet Union remain mixed and complicated 20 years after its fall.

Several portraits of Stalin were carried by members of the Communist section of the parade, bringing to light another complicated part of Russia's history. Many people in Russia still revere Stalin as a powerful leader who is viewed as being responsible for Russia's rise as an industrial power and for its victory in the Second World War.