Victory in WW2 became one of the main collective achievements of Soviet people and celebration of the Victory day is very important event for Russian, Ukrainian and other former Soviet nations. On the 9th of May 1945 Nazi Germany capitulated to Soviet Union and this day marked the end of long and bloody WW2 or Great Patriotic War as it was called in Soviet Union. According to modern data more than 20 million Soviet people died in this war. In other words almost every family on the territory of former Soviet Union has some relative who fought in this war or died in it. So this holiday is really people’s.
From year to year number of veterans is getting smaller, so basically now there are last years when people can meet with living veterans, speak with them and congratulate them. Victory day is very sentimental holiday.Every year on this day people come to the main streets and squares of their towns and cities to congratulate veterans and give them flowers.
Every city and town has its own parade on this day, but the main parades are in the capitals. In Kiev it is parade at the Kreshchatik, and in Russia it is Moscow’s Red square parade. Every year thousands of people come to the Kreshchatik on the 9th of May to see the parade and to congratulate veterans. You can also come to the parade, but chances are you won’t see nothing as whole Kreshchatik is simply overcrowded on this day. So if you want to see the parade you’d better stay home and watch it on tv. But really it’s more exciting to be there yourself, to see all the happy people, feel amazing atmosphere.
At the parade you can see weapons and military equipment, soldiers of the army, military orchestras and all things like that.
In small towns local schools, factories and enterprises gather people for the parade. They purchase flowers and go to the main street, where they meet veterans and congratulate them. On this day people like to be outdoors, they like to go to parks or botanical gardens.
Usually on this day there are open air concerts where you can listen to patriotic songs and popular songs of 1940’s. But also there are demonstrations of different kind, usually organized by communistic parties. Even if you’re not into any kind of parties it may be fun to take part in a demonstration, you should try, and maybe it will be interesting for you. Usually those demonstrations are just in order to commemorate Victory day.
Victory day used to be a day for meet-ups of veterans and people, who fought in the war together. They were gathering in parks and then spending time together, remembering all the things they’ve been through. This was very touching and important for people, who took part in the war. But now those meetings are basically things of a past, as most of veterans are dead already or very old and it’s quite hard for them to come to the park. But also there not so many people left, so there are really small chances for them to meet their former friends in 2012.
On this day youth and basically everybody should buy some flowers and present them to elderly people. Even if they are not old enough to be former participants of the war. On this day rising generation and all the people demonstrate their gratitude to people, who fought for their country and peaceful future.
9th of May is a day-off,
Most of people try to visit their elderly relatives on this day, as some of them took part in the war and others were children as it was happening. So 9th of May is basically a day of gratitude to ancestry for everything they’ve done.
Written by Kateryna Martynenko