Do Germans celebrate May 9th? How do people in Germany celebrate the victory over fascism? At a meeting of veterans in Germany - not only about the war
In Germany, May 9 is not celebrated and there is no Victory Day holiday. The Day of Liberation from National Socialism (as it is officially called) is celebrated on May 8th. But the former Soviet veterans living here today gather for "their" holiday. No one, of course, interferes with this and does not look askance at them.
Eternal Odessa - about World War II
“At first, I didn’t feel comfortable celebrating Victory Day in Germany,” says 87-year-old Maria Chomskaya. “Then I thought: this is a different state, there is no more fascism here.” At the celebration, arranged for the participants of the Second World War in the Cologne synagogue, from the nursing home where she now lives, a woman arrived in a long emerald dress and a black openwork cape with medals. In the ears - large earrings with turquoise.
Context
About the war, which she used to call the Great Patriotic War, and in Germany, as in the rest of the world, they call it, we don’t talk for long. After the very first words about what she, then a 14-year-old girl, had to endure in besieged Leningrad, Maria begins to cry. Having moved to Germany 22 years ago, she still, according to her, remains a patriot of Russia: "I had such a good time there, how can I forget it?"
Marlene Friedman, a native of Odessa, does not call himself anything other than an Odessa citizen. Almost every day he calls up his relatives who stayed there and worries about his hometown. Nevertheless, he does not regret the decision made in the late 1990s to leave for Germany. 17 years have passed since the operation performed in a German clinic, although doctors gave him a maximum of three years before the operation. 87-year-old Marlene (named so, by the way, in honor of Marx and Lenin by his aunt - "an ardent Komsomol member", which he talks about with humor) looks much younger than his age. But our conversation ends: the concert dedicated to the defeat of the "Third Reich" begins.
Red carnations and a brief translation of Russian songs
140 guests, including 45 participants in the war, prisoners of the camps and blockade, sit down in their places at tables in a large bright hall. On the stage there is a piano and red carnations in large vases, carnations are also on every table. Despite the fact that the holiday takes place in Cologne, there is nothing specifically "German" here: "Song of the 10th Battalion", "If there were no war", "Victory Day" sound from the stage ... The audience sings along with pleasure, alone the pair even begin to waltz.
94-year-old Grigory Krupnik enters the stage. The former Muscovite talks about how, literally in the first days of the war, he ended up on the Western Front as part of the 108th Infantry Division. The story of how he was wounded by shell fragments, how he woke up among his dead comrades, how he crawled along a burning forest, is being translated into German. They translate just in case: only a few people from those present do not understand the Russian language.
At a meeting of veterans in Germany - not only about the war
However, at this meeting, people from the former USSR spoke, of course, not only about the past war. Many of them began their conversation not with memories of the past, but with reflections on the present.
“I didn’t know what a Ukrainian, a Russian, a Jew was – we didn’t have that. And now everyone is divided, and it’s already impossible to understand what’s going on,” says Boris Denenburg, honorary chairman of the Council of Veterans of the Jewish Community of Cologne. He went to the front in 1941, was wounded twice, once shell-shocked. Born in Poltava and educated in Leningrad, the former dental surgeon hopes things will work out. "Yes, it cannot be that the Ukrainians fought with the Russians! Everything will fall into place!" he is convinced. I would like to believe that he is right.
See also:
-
Signing
Joachim von Ribbentrop (left), Joseph Stalin (second from left) and Vyacheslav Molotov (signs, sits on the right). On the Soviet side, the treaty was signed by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov, and on the German side, by its Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. The treaty is often referred to as the "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact".
Stalin and Hitler: how the friendship began and how it ended
Molotov and Hitler
The parties to the agreement were obliged to refrain from attacking each other and to remain neutral if one of them became the object of hostilities by a third party. The treaty was accompanied by a secret additional protocol on the delimitation of spheres of mutual interests in Eastern Europe. Molotov was on a return visit to Berlin. In the picture, he is on the left with Hitler and an interpreter.
Stalin and Hitler: how the friendship began and how it ended
Hitler about the pact and Stalin's position
"Our enemies counted on Russia to become our adversary after the conquest of Poland... I was convinced that Stalin would never accept the offer of the British. Only reckless optimists could think that Stalin was so stupid that he did not recognize their true goal. Russia did not interested in preserving Poland ... Now ... the way is open to the soldiers, "- Adolf Hitler (1939).
Stalin and Hitler: how the friendship began and how it ended
"Treacherous Fiend" named Hitler
"... how could it happen that the Soviet government agreed to conclude a non-aggression pact with such treacherous people and monsters as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Was there a mistake on the part of the Soviet government here? Of course not! A non-aggression pact is a pact about peace between two states," - from Stalin's speech (1941, after Hitler's attack on the USSR).
Stalin and Hitler: how the friendship began and how it ended
background
The treaty was signed after a period of very serious cooling of Soviet-German relations caused by Hitler's rise to power, and armed conflicts in which the USSR opposed the Nazi coalition: Germany and Italy in Spain, Japan in the Far East. The agreement came as a surprise not only to third countries, but also to the population of the USSR and Germany.
Stalin and Hitler: how the friendship began and how it ended
results
On September 1, 1939, Germany launched an invasion of Poland, and on September 17, 1939, Soviet troops entered Poland. The territorial division of the country was completed on September 28, 1939 with the signing of a friendship and border treaty between the Soviet Union and Germany. Later, the Baltic countries, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, as well as part of Finland, were annexed to the USSR.
Stalin and Hitler: how the friendship began and how it ended
Beginning of World War II
The Polish campaign of the Wehrmacht is a military operation, as a result of which the territory of Poland was completely occupied, and parts of it were annexed by the "Third Reich" and the USSR. In response to Hitler's aggression, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the start of World War II. The date of its beginning is considered to be September 1, 1939 - the day of the invasion of Poland.
Stalin and Hitler: how the friendship began and how it ended
Partition of Poland
German troops defeated the armed forces of Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops entered the territory of Poland - as officially reported, with the aim of joining Western Belarus and Western Ukraine to the USSR. The territory of Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union in accordance with the secret protocols to the non-aggression and friendship and border treaties, as well as Lithuania and Slovakia.
Victory Day is a celebration of the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. May 9 is celebrated in our country.
On May 8 at 22-43 CET (May 9 at 0-43 Moscow time) the Act of Germany's unconditional surrender was signed. The Great Patriotic War is over. Due to the noted discrepancy in standard time, in Europe the end of the war is considered May 8, a day earlier than in Russia.
On this day, commemorative events are held throughout Germany in honor of the "Liberation Day", "Day of the liberation of the German people from Nazi fascism", "Memorial Day" - this is how this date is called in German calendars.
Liberation Day is not an official date. May 8 is a working day in Germany. At the state level, this holiday is not celebrated there. The holiday of liberation from Nazism is celebrated with mass events only in the anniversary years.
Only in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and in several other countries of the former Soviet Union on May 9th they solemnly celebrate Victory Day over Nazi Germany. And only a few Germans on May 9 in Berlin lay flowers at the monument to the unknown soldier. Many Germans prefer to celebrate the traditional Father's Day and Mother's Day in the week from 4 to 11 May.
But it is worth noting that the absence of an official "red day" in the German calendars does not at all mean neglect of the memory of Soviet soldiers who fell in battles in a foreign land. All our military graves, monuments of those years and memorable places of Soviet military glory, of which there are by no means many in the FRG, are kept in good condition.
The Germans remember the war with commemorative events: exhibitions are opened, new books are published, previously unknown pages of history are presented. Wreaths are laid at memorials, in cemeteries where Soviet soldiers are buried. And in churches across the country, special services are held in the name of peace and in memory of the victims of the war.
On this day, you can honor the memory of the dead by laying flowers at the monument to the Liberator Warrior in Berlin's Treptow Park.
Monument to the Liberator Warrior in Berlin's Treptower Park
Sculptor E. V. Vuchetich,
Architect Ya. B. Belopolsky.
Opened May 8, 1949.
Height - 12 meters.
It is understood that the sword in the hands of a soldier is the same sword that the worker passes to the warrior depicted on the monument "Rear to the Front" (Magnitogorsk), and which is then raised by the Motherland on Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd.
The center of the composition is the figure of a Soviet soldier with a lowered sword and a child in his arms, standing on the fragments of a swastika.
It is believed that the prototype for the sculptor was a Soviet soldier, a native of the village of Voznesenka, Tisulsky district, Kemerovo region, Nikolai Masalov, who saved a German girl during the storming of Berlin in April 1945. But Vuchetich sculpted a warrior-liberator from the paratrooper Ivan Odarenko from Tambov.
Did you like it? Click the button:
May 8 marks the end of World War II in Europe. In Germany, this day is called the Day of Liberation from National Socialism and the End of World War II in Europe. This is not a holiday, but a day of remembrance.
This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the end of World War II. The German government does not celebrate it, writes DW. Recently, official events dedicated to this day are held, as a rule, only on round dates. However, this does not mean at all that the Germans are reminded of the war unleashed by the Nazis and their crimes only once every five years. The development of one's own history takes place in Germany on a daily basis - in schools and with the assistance of countless public and private initiatives.
In Angela Merkel's schedule for the current week, according to DW, nothing is planned that would have to do with the events of 73 years ago. It is possible that the chancellor will congratulate the presidents of France and Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron and Petro Poroshenko, with whom she is scheduled to meet on May 10 in Aachen, on the victory.
Every year on May 8, a big holiday is held by the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst. This year, the program of the holiday includes the children's choir of the Shostakovich Music School in Berlin's Lichtenberg district, excursions every hour in German, Russian and English, as well as the presentation of the report "The End of the War in the Media", a public discussion of historians on the topic "The Reichstag is the best Soviet trophy”, display of Soviet, French and GDR feature films about the war and much more.
The director of the museum told a DW correspondent that mostly residents from neighboring houses come to the holiday, many with children, pensioners, but there are also many Russian-speaking residents of Berlin, including veterans of the Great Patriotic War. Delegations of veterans from Belarus, Russia, former servicemen of the Western Group of Forces of the USSR, which was stationed in the GDR, also came to the holiday.
The museum in Karlshorst is far from the only one in the German capital that tells about the Second World War and the crimes of the Nazis. In addition to state and public museums that receive subsidies from the treasury, there are also private ones that exist solely at the expense of wealthy people.
Enno Lenze, 35, is one such enthusiast. A couple of years ago, for his own one and a half million euros, he bought one of the Berlin bunkers from the war from the city. There are several dozens of similar structures in Berlin. Of those that have been privatized or rented, most are used either for commercial purposes - for example, for playing paintball - or as a foundation for housing.
Enno Lenze opened a documentary exhibition in his bunker entitled "Hitler - How Could This Happen". A significant place in the exhibition is devoted to the theme of the Holocaust. Photos in one of the halls are not for the faint of heart. Enno Lenze told DW that it is these photographs that make a particularly strong impression on museum visitors, about a third of whom are schoolchildren.
The principles of democracy, one of which is comprehensive tolerance, can be treated differently. Someone looks at them with a fair amount of skepticism, and someone elevates them to the Absolute, turning the coveted freedoms into the supreme goal, to which any civilized society should strive. However, even if one looks at tolerance as negatively as possible, one cannot fail to note the positive aspects of such a policy. One of these pluses for many years now is the fact that our former compatriots can freely celebrate Victory Day in ... Germany. The Germans themselves do not react to this process in any way. There are no protests, no provocations, no breakdowns. It is noteworthy that for the second year in a row, bikers from the Night Wolves motorcycle club enter Germany without any problems. In contrast, for example, from the same Poland, which this year put a lot of sticks in the wheels of extravagant patriots from Russia. Or the same Czech Republic, where the “wolves” were met by aggressive activists with Ukrainian, American and Czech flags. As a result, the "Night Wolves" still got to Berlin, laying flowers on several war memorials as part of their "Roads of War" motorcycle race. This year, 200 club members arrived in Berlin, while in the past, due to problems at the border of especially stubborn EU countries, only three people from Russia got to the German capital. Then the situation was saved by members of the club with European citizenship, who joined the Russian brothers this year as well.
In general, in Germany itself, May 9 is a regular working day. The Germans celebrate the Day of Liberation from National Socialism on May 8, and it would be strange if the Germans celebrated the Day of the USSR's Victory over Nazi Germany. However, former Soviet veterans currently living in Germany, and even ordinary emigrants from Russia, celebrate Victory Day, despite the bustle of the working day. Thankfully there is somewhere. In the eastern part of Berlin, on the banks of the Spree, is the famous Treptow Park, which houses a Soviet war memorial erected in honor of the defeat of Nazism. 7,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the battles for Berlin are buried on the territory of the memorial. It is here that WWII veterans, Russian-speaking residents of Berlin and pilgrims from Russia and Eastern Europe flock on May 9.
As the veterans themselves say, at first it was inconvenient for them to celebrate Victory Day in Germany, but over time it became much easier. Apparently, ease became possible due to the absence of a negative reaction from the public and the government. Such atrocities as the recent spraying of green paint on veterans in Ukrainian Slavyansk, the German government would not let the bastards get away with it. The reason, apparently, is that Germany still feels guilty for its aggressive ancestors, being fully responsible for the "sins of the fathers" and trying to prevent the resurrection of Nazism. Therefore, in Berlin, radicals desecrate monuments to Soviet soldiers quite rarely, and the administration promptly repairs the damage when this does happen, apologizing. However, such total vandalism, which was in the same Bulgaria, where the Soviet monument is desecrated with inveterate frequency, did not happen in Germany.
Actually, here tolerance and a sense of guilt for Nazism play to the benefit of Russian-speaking citizens of Germany who want to honor the memory of their ancestors once a year. Every year, hundreds of people flock to the Berlin memorials in Treptow Park, Tiergarten and Pankow to lay flowers on the graves of Soviet soldiers who did not live long enough to see the end of the war. Eternal memory to the heroes and thanks to the tolerant Germans for the opportunity given to our veterans!
Elderly people with numbers punched out on their hands, which they were given as concentration fascists, are coming to Germany from many countries of the world by May 8. Sometimes they lay flowers at monuments and memorials.
Wehrmacht veterans who are still alive do not have their own committees, clubs or councils. They practically do not get together, as they discuss. Most of them participated in the war due to pressure and powerful propaganda.
Often in Berlin itself you can observe people with St. George ribbons, these are either tourists. Local residents do not express admiration or humiliation for the feat of the Russian soldier, many of them still remember how the soldiers of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA turned their country into an occupied territory for 5 years, because until 1949 there was not even a government in Germany. Modern public opinion is such that this is treated solely as a historical fact, without condemning or welcoming what happened.
Neither on May 8th nor May 9th in Germany there are magnificent parades, such as in Russia, calmly, peacefully, for Europeans these days are not festive, but memorable. Occasionally, a military may be shown on television that day, cable channels have the right to broadcast the Victory Parade taking place in Moscow, but only the Russian-language Kartina.TV does this.
As for the monuments in honor of the soldiers who fell during the World War and in memory of civilians, there are quite a lot of them installed throughout Germany. In addition, all memorials are well-groomed, and this is not only before May 8, because the Germans are such a nation that treats any memories very carefully.
May 8 - memory at the family level
Basically, the Germans do not discuss the events of the Second World War aloud. They honor their dead loved ones, but at the family level. So, most people just try to get together on this day, chat, look at photo albums, maybe visit the graves (if there are any).
By the way, the history of the War in schools is taught very objectively and restrainedly. The school curriculum provides for the passage of the chronology of battles, an analysis of the political situation in the world. No more. Young Germans will be able to learn about the terrible truth of fascism by visiting Polish Auschwitz, excursions for high school students are organized annually to the concentration camp, May 8 is an open day here, it often happens that travel and entrance are free for everyone who wants to touch the history of fascism.
