Do They Know It’s Victory Day?

May 14, 2010

Apologies for the sporadic posting. I offer no excuses. Last weekend I went back to Moscow, which coincided with an apparently epic holiday, May 9th, or Day of Victory! I have written here before about how important WW2 is to Russians, but even I was taken by surprise at how….over the top their celebrating of May 9th is. (If you’re a WW2 buff or something, you might be wondering why Russians celebrate on May 9th, not May 8th, which is the recognized end of the war in Europe. The Germans signed the treaty at 11:00pm on May 8th, so it was already May 9th in Russia.)

Moscow was covered in decorations, sort of agit-prop style, commemorating the victory. The city’s ring boulevards were all turned into historical exhibitions, with signs profiling different heroes and even some 3-D images which you needed glasses to see correctly. I don’t think anyone had the glasses.

Victory Music Box

I have to admit, I was sort of taken aback at how enthusiastically and reverentially this holiday was celebrated. I have written on this blog about how important WW2 is to Russians, but this holiday is just above and beyond what I would have imagined. I naively imagined something akin to American Veterans’ Day or Memorial day–which is to say, nothing more than a day off from work. The whole city was covered with flags and decorations. People were dressed in red, white and blue and wore USSR WW2 era caps. Everyone had a black and orange striped ribbon tied to themselves or their bags or their cars. The sale of alcohol was not permitted in the city center! That’s saying something. People resorted to eating mass quantities of ice cream to induce a sugar rush for alcohol-like effect. Also, it was like 85 degrees! I basically lost my mind it was so hot.Despite the heat, veterans strolled the street in their uniforms, each weighed down by about fifteen medals at least, and received thanks and congratulations from everyone who passed them.

Note the 65 in the starburst.

This holiday was also the only time I have really seen USSR pride letting its flag fly. Literally.

Hammer and Sickle Flag. Note the Omon riot police strolling beneath it. They are the most fearsome of Russia's many police forces and were out in great numbers this weekend.

Also the flower display above has an CCCP on it. People were wearing pro-Lenin and Stalin t-shirts, and of course all WW2 paraphernalia is Soviet. This is really the only occasion where I noticed wide-spread nostalgia for the Soviet era.

Red Square gussied up for the Parade

So the main event of this day is a military parade. This parade is watched on TV all over the country and involved participants from all former Soviet countries except Georgia. Also including Poland and the US, and a few others I think. What this entails is large numbers of soldiers and gigantic military machinery rolling down the streets amongst gigantic cheering crowds. Did you know that tanks have horns? I did not know that. The “star” of this parade was a brand new and enormous missile launcher. Cue the cheering crowds!

This is from the day after the parade.

I actually ended up watching this parade unwillingly and from a terrible vantage point. It was one of the most agoraphobic experiences of my life. It was like a trillion degrees, none of the stores were open, I had no money and no ATMs were open, and everywhere I looked there was an unbelievable crowd of people sloshing around. The Omon had their riot tanks out and lots of streets were barricaded with trucks and water tanks, and all of these were covered with people trying to get a better view. A lot of the metros were closed. I spend like three hours walking in circles trying to get away from the parade.

And then there was the aerial parade! Several coordinated groups of helicopters carrying flags, red white and blue jets and HUGE aircraft carriers flying low to the ground, greeted with screams of pride and joy by the adoring masses. It was both endearing and frightening.

Anyway, Moscow was awesome and exhausting as usual. The best part was the weather. It was like summer there! I felt hot, due to sun shining on me! I was concerned about sunburns! It was like paradise.

Visited Moscow State University, which is more imposing in person.

Rode a chairlift left over from the 1980 Moscow Olympics. At right, there is a ski jump. People were actually practicing ski jumping as we rode! I had no idea you could ski jump on a plastic tarp. This is the "State Ski School of the Capital." What other country would have that year-round in the middle of one of the world's biggest cities?