(Later research produced an estimate of about twenty-seven million.) As the Communist regime softened, more literary accounts of the war emerged-“lieutenants’ prose” told the “truth of the trenches,” revealing the horrors and hardships of the war. During his tenure, the official death toll was raised to twenty million. Three years after the victory, the May 9th holiday was made an ordinary work day-Stalin was concerned that too much celebration would imbue veterans with excessive pride and feelings of independence.Īs part of his condemnation of Stalin’s legacy, Nikita Khrushchev, who came to power after Stalin’s death, in 1953, admitted that the war casualties had been much higher than previously acknowledged. Georgy Zhukov, the most prominent war general, was appointed military commander of a provincial region, so that his glory would not interfere with Stalin’s absolute power. The death toll was reported as seven million, so that it would be the same as Nazi Germany’s losses severely disabled soldiers were removed to the remote Valaam Island, so that their presence would not remind people of the monstrosity of the war. Immediately following the war, Stalin played down the enormous sacrifice of the Soviet people. The commemoration of the Second World War has gone through several phases in Russia. Russia may have been snubbed, but the absence of Western leaders means that it can celebrate only itself as a victor. This perception has been further emphasized by Western leaders’ refusal to attend this year’s military parade in Moscow. This portrayal of the events in Ukraine has created a parallel in the minds of many Russians between the war with Nazi Germany and the current standoff with the West. According to Russian propagandists, the West provoked the conflict in Ukraine and abetted the Ukrainian “fascist” forces, while Russia stood by “ours,” who are alternately referred to as Russian speakers, ethnic Russians, and compatriots. This year, the celebration is especially magnificent, both because it is the seventieth anniversary and because of last year’s annexation of Crimea and the ongoing armed conflict in Donbas.
In 2006, a Kremlin aide called it the “single undisputed basis for the Russian national myth.” The victory over Nazi Germany has long been perceived as Russia’s greatest achievement, and, as the living memory of it fades, the official celebration gets ever grander.
VICTORY DAY ISLAND TV
On Saturday, Russia marks Victory Day with a military parade broadcast by the major TV networks, a ceremonial reception at the Kremlin, patriotic speeches, fireworks, and events across the country.
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