Soviet (Victory Day) – Immigrant Holidays in NYC

May 7, 2019 / 0 Comments

Victory Day Celebrations

IN RUSSIA

Today, public mourning, marches, and military parades all over Russia characterize Victory Day. Additionally, recently introduced to Victory Day is the March of the Immortal Regiment in which millions of Russian civilians assemble carrying a portrait of either a World War II veteran, victim or survivor (Sharkov, 2017). President Putin himself carried a portrait of his father. The younger generations are tasked with honoring the veterans and can also partake in various types of festivities organized by municipalities each year. Many people attend the Military parade and thousands gather to watch the celebratory fireworks show. The parade has become an opportunity for Russia to flex their muscles and showcase their military power (Arutunyan, 2016).

A young Russian carrying a picture of former leader Joseph Stalin during Victory Day celebrations

Victory Day fireworks in the Red Square in Moscow

Victory day has increasingly become a celebration in which popular culture plays a central role. Victory Day has become a very important topic in Russian cinema, literature, history lessons at school, the mass media, and the arts. All over Russia, TV networks broadcast World War II-inspired films. Also very popular is the Russian Victory Day song “Dan Pobedy” (Volkov, 2018). Another Victory Day tradition is to give red carnations to veterans in the street and to lay wreaths at the war memorial sites. Veterans walk the streets proudly displaying their medals. Another common symbol of Victory Day is the St. George ribbons worn by thousands of Russians. This black and yellow ribbon is a sign of respect and remembrance (Victory Day in Russia).

Soviet Veteran proudly displaying his medals on Victory Day while wearing a St. George Ribbon and holding a red carnation.

Despite the emotional connection of many Russian to Victory Day, today’s celebrations have become more of a celebration of the current state of the country as opposed to a day remembering the former sacrifices of the country. Many people believe that the goal of the contemporary celebration is strictly to demonstrate loyalty to Putin and that Putin has used World War Two as a tool to consolidate his power, diminishing the memory of the war itself (Arutunyan, 2016).

IN NEW YORK CITY

Despite the overall decline in American participation and acknowledgement of Victory Day celebrations, many Soviet veterans in Brighton Beach continue to celebrate Victory Day. Brighton Beach is known for its tight-knit Soviet community. Victory Day first became celebrated in Brighton Beach in the 1990’s along with the influx of former Soviet veterans to town. It became of the utmost importance to these Soviet veterans and they do whatever they can to mimic the celebrations in their homeland. They too watch Soviet World War II-inspired films and walk around proudly wearing military uniforms and displaying their Soviet war medals. Many people can also be seen wearing St. George ribbons and driving around with Soviet flags attached to their cars. It is not uncommon to see former soldiers walking around with red flags or images of Stalin (Sergeyev, 2015). Rafael Finkelshtyn, whose family emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1990’s, said that his Victory Day is very important to his family. “My whole family gets together and we watch the celebrations in Moscow. Every year we watch a Soviet war documentary followed by a family dinner consisting of traditional Russian food and war stories told by my grandfather. The most important part of the day for my family is when we take out a picture of my great grandfather who was a cavalryman in the Red Army and pass around his medals for all his great grandchildren to admire.” he stated.

Members of Brighton Beach community celebrating Victory Day

The American Association of Invalids and Veterans of World War II host the annual Brighton Beach Victory Day Parade. Many people hold laminated photographs of family members who fought in the war to mimic the actions done in Russia. It has become increasingly popular to take pictures with the Veterans and hear their stories. The festivities of the day are concluded with several annual celebratory banquet dinners. Councilman Mark Treyger arranged one such celebration in 2018. At the event guests were fed Russian delicacies and enjoyed traditional Russian performances. Additionally, numerous Soviet veterans were honored (Mena, 2018). Olga Henkin, an associate executive director of a Russian-Jewish youth organization called Ezra, said, “I don’t believe there is a single family that doesn’t have someone who has been through that war. Each family has been impacted in a personal and an emotional way, and that has been engraved somewhere in their mind and in their soul.” Henkin’s organization spent Victory Day delivering gift bags to veterans to than them for their efforts (Berger, 2011). Due to this large-scale impact on all Soviet families, Victory Day is somewhat of a bittersweet day in Brighton Beach.

Soviet veterans marching in Victory Day parade in Brighton Beach

Soviet veteran proudly displaying his war medals in Brighton Beach

Raisia Chernina, a lead organizer of celebrations in Brighton Beach stated, “This event is not just about the war, but about how people survived the war.” 90-year-old Grigory Danilovich, who served in the Red Army at age 17, expressed that even during a celebration of the victory, memories of the war were painful. Leonid Rozenfeld, another Red Army veteran agreed with Danilovich. He said, “Even now, as I speak to you about this, my heart races and my eyes well with tears. I remember the millions of people who died because of these horrors, these atrocities, the killing, the death, the trauma, and the starvation” (Faynberg, 2016).

However, in recent years, participation in Victory Day is dwindling, as there are fewer and fewer Soviet veterans each year. Along with the veterans themselves, the majority of the participants of Victory Day in Brighton Beach have historically been immigrants. With the members of this generation growing increasingly old, along with the lack of participation in the celebration by the younger generations, there is a growing fear that Victory Day will be forgotten in America. The lack of participation of the younger generations is largely due to the fact that, unlike in Russia, Victory Day is not a national holiday in America. Therefore, children don’t have off from school and many adults are not of from work and therefore can’t partake in many of the celebrations (Sergeyev, 2015). Mr. Berman also highlighted the disconnect between younger generations and the meaning behind the day. He said, “Victory Day is a day commemorating Soviet history. There was a great deal of pride in the victory because of the sacrifice the country had to endure to be victorious. The younger generations will never feel this sacrifice and, sadly, many of the veterans who experienced the sacrifice aren’t around to tell their grandchildren and great grandchildren about it.”

Soviet veteran in Brighton Beach enlightening the younger generation about Victory Day

May 7, 2019 / 0 Comments

Victory Day Tensions with America

In 2005, at the 60^th anniversary of Victory Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted US President George W. Bush along with the leaders of various other countries to join in on the celebrations. While Victory Day is regarded as a Soviet holiday, the defeat of the Nazis and fascism is extremely important to the United States as well. While tensions between the United States and USSR certainly arose shortly after the conclusion of World War 2, a victory over the Nazis would likely have been impossible without the alliance between the two countries. While Victory Day has been both historically recognized and ideologically celebrated by Americans, there has been some recent conflict between the US and Russia over Victory Day. This conflict began in 2015, the 70^th anniversary of Victory Day, when President Obama, along with the leaders of other Western countries, boycotted Victory Day over the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Despite the boycott of many Western leaders, the 2015 Victory Celebrations was one of the largest Victory Day celebrations in Russia to date. However, there were many tensions for Russians living in America as to whether or not to celebrate Victory Day in 2015 (Russians in Brooklyn, 2015). Issak Volodarsky, a Russian immigrant who had openly and proudly celebrated Victory Day in previous years elected not to do so in 2015. “Much of Victory Day is about celebrating the military. It felt wrong to celebrate and applaud the Russian Military when they were causing so much conflict in Ukraine,” he stated. Additionally, political tensions between Russia and the US have increased over the past couple years and many people fear a brewing conflict between the two super powers. This has also led many Americans to alter their view on Victory Day.

St. George ribbons symbolize Victory Day

May 7, 2019 / 0 Comments

The Changing Meaning of Victory Day in Russia

While Victory Day was initially more of a solemn day to commemorate fallen soldiers, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, memories of the war became a common ground between the Soviets and the West and therefore strengthened rapprochement efforts with the West. This led to greater commercialization of the holiday as it became more openly and exuberantly celebrated (Limpan 2017). Additionally, along with Putin’s rise to power, the Russian government began promoting the prestige of the governing regime and Soviet history. National holidays and commemorations have become a source of national self-esteem. Additionally, the government has begun to push to restore symbols of Soviet-era pride, including opting to re-use the melody for the Soviet Union’s anthem in Russia’s current national anthem. Victory Day has also undergone many changes. Under Putin, Victory Day has become the second most popular holiday in Russia, second only to New Years. In 2017, over 43 percent of Russians labeled Victory Day the most important holiday of the year, a 14 percent increase from 2004. Additionally, a survey conducted by The Moscow Times recorded that over 80 percent of the Russian citizens that they interviewed actively participated in Victory Day celebrations. Part of the reason it is so celebrated is that 85 percent of Russians have war veterans in their families and 68 percent of Russians are related to someone who died in the war. The holiday is very personal for many Russians because of the mass loss (Sharkov, 2017).

Victory Day celebrations

May 7, 2019 / 0 Comments

Victory Day Overview

WHAT IS VICTORY DAY?

Celebrated annually on May 9^th, Victory Day is a celebration by former Soviets that commemorates the surrender of the Nazi’s in 1945. However, the roots of the celebration run much deeper than the defeat of the Nazis and are largely built upon the ideological defeat of fascism. The holiday was inaugurated in 1945 in the 15 republics of the Soviet Union, following the signing of the German instrument of surrender. It marked the end of the Great Patriotic War for the USSR, which lost roughly 27 million citizens in the four years of fighting. Though the official inauguration occurred in 1945, Victory Day first became a non-labor day only in 1965. Today, Russia, most former Soviet states, Serbia, Israel and former members of the Warsaw Pact observe Victory Day.

Moscow Victory Day Parade 1945

HISTORY

The inaugural Victory Day celebration in Russia was highlighted by the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945. This marked the longest and largest military parade ever held on Red Square in the Soviet capital Moscow. It involved 40,000 Red Army soldiers and 1,850 military vehicles and other military hardware (Victory Day, 9 May). However, after its inaugural celebration, at first, Victory Day was much less celebrated in the subsequent years. This was largely due to the fact that Stalin was concerned that too much celebration would fill veterans with excessive pride and feelings of independence. Additionally, immediately following the war, Stalin downplayed the massive impact that the war had on the Soviet people, labeling the death toll at only 7 million. However, in 1965, the 20^th anniversary of the holiday, Victory Day began to gain importance and was made a national holiday. The holiday remained somewhat of a solemn day as many of the commemorations remained private affairs, where veterans, would get together and remember the battles they fought and those who did not return. After 1965, the next Victory Day Parade wasn’t held until 1985 to celebrate the 40^th anniversary. After 1985, the next parade was held in 1990 but, due to the policies of successive Russian governments, Victory Day celebrations did not include mass gatherings and remained somewhat of a solemn day. However, beginning in 1995 this ideology shifted and the Moscow Victory Day Parade had been held every single year (Lipman, 2017).

Victory Day Celebration in 1980

SOVIET HOLIDAYS IN GENERAL

According to Greisha Berman, who immigrated to New York in 1990, other than New Years, very few cultural or religious holidays were observed in the Soviet Union. He attributed this to the fact that there was no real culture or religion in the Soviet Union other than strict adherence to communism. The leaders of the Soviet Union attempted to denounce and flush out all religious celebrations from the country. However, Mr. Berman explained that Victory Day became so huge in the Soviet Union because it changed the entire country’s psyche due to the massive impact that it had on everyone in the country. It became observed as a day of national sacrifice and therefore wasn’t viewed as propaganda by the Soviet government. Mr. Berman highlighted that Victory Day was also very important to those who didn’t share in communist beliefs. Mr. Berman’s grandfather, Ivan Berman, who was a war veteran himself, proudly walked around on Victory Day displaying his medals, despite covertly being anti-communism.