08. Victory Day celebrations

One of the biggest public holidays of the year in Russia is known as Victory Day - May 09. This day commemorates the Soviet triumph over the Nazis in World War II, or as it is known in Russia, the Great Patriotic War.

In my opinion, WWII history - at least in public schools in Louisiana during the 1980s and 1990s - is not taught to American children in a satisfactory manner, so it wasn't until I was in my 20s that I started to learn the real story of that conflict. The United States of America certainly had a significant part to play, but it was really the Soviet Union who won the war for the Allied Powers. The United States had fewer than 500,000 military and civilian deaths during the conflict. A huge number, to be sure, but one which pales in comparison to the 26 million or more deaths in the Soviet Union (approximately 14 million of which were in present-day Russia). Certainly, some of these deaths were victims of Soviet oppression (gulags, deportations of entire ethnic groups, etc.), but most were military deaths as a direct result of Nazi activity - over 30% of the military personnel who served died in action or as a result of their wounds sustained in battle (additional statistics are available here). So, the size and pageantry of the celebration to mark the end of this nightmare certainly makes sense.

The Victory Day celebration here in St. Petersburg was a four-day weekend filled with events: parades of active-duty military troops; military vehicles including tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets; retro automobiles from the 1940s; and marches of descendants and family members of Russians who participated in the conflict. There were also various musical performances around town and a fireworks display above the Neva River at dusk (which was at 10 pm at this time of year this far north).

This celebration reminds me somewhat of 4th of July celebrations in the US, only with a much more specific and personal sense of patriotism than the generalized concept as displayed by most people in the US. After all, no one in the US really has a connection with ancestors who were around in 1776 or had anything to do with the Declaration of Independence. Thousands of people all over St. Petersburg carried signs with them all day with pictures of their family member who served in the conflict. These are not necessarily people who died during the Great Patriotic War, but who served in the conflict in some capacity. There were even some actual participants out and about, although in 2017, there aren't a whole lot left anymore. Perhaps a better comparison might be to liken Victory Day in Russia with an amalgamation of the US holidays of Independence Day, Veterans Day, & Memorial Day.

The way Russians react to fireworks displays was a bit different than I've seen before. First, as soon as the initial explosion happened, every vehicle driving on the city street near me immediately stopped in the middle of the road and the drivers all got out to watch the entire show. The spectators were all quite vocal in their appreciation of each explosion - much more than just "oohs" and "ahhs". And interestingly, there was no "grand finale" like there is with just about every fireworks display I've ever seen in the US. Upon further reflection, that entire concept of a huge finale seems somewhat "American" to me, and I don't intend that as a necessarily positive descriptor (that is, everything has to be as big as possible in the US - e.g., civilian Humvees, super-sized fast food, etc.). The fireworks display also lasted only about 10 minutes. That was fine by me as I had a 20-minute walk back to my apartment from my vantage point on the Fontanka River embankment, across from the Summer Garden.






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