I have written about Victory Day and my thoughts about this Russian celebration before. I guess my opinion hasn't really changed. A few interactions have occurred this week, so I thought I would share them with you.
Earlier in the week I received a phone call from a journalist asking if I wanted to do a tv interview about my thoughts on Victory Day. Apparently they got my name from the University and they were hoping to interview a number of foreigners. I thought about it and declined. It would probably not be wise to share my opinions on public tv.
This morning Melody was at a women's group. When one of the ladies entered she wished everybody there a happy festival. And then continued to say "Hitler is dead!" One of the other Russians present replied, "I don't know how I can celebrate this day, it's just too sad." This was the first time I had heard a Russian with this opinion. Last year I spent time debating it with people and everyone seemed to think it is a good thing to celebrate Russia's victory in world war 2.
Yesterday I had a conversation with my teacher in class. I decided that I have shared my opinion on previous occasions, I wanted to hear her opinion. According to her, it is a chance to remember that they survived the war. The fascists told the Russians that they were an uncivilised people. The official figure of deaths was some where around 20 million, but my teacher believes that the more accurate figure of deaths of Russians in world war 2, was 45 million people.
Yes it is good that Hitler was defeated. No Russia did not do this alone, even though that is how their celebration portrays it. But in war there are no winners. World war 2 was a massive, massive tragedy. Stalin threw men at the front like cannon fodder, Hitler may have been stopped, but there was no victory for Russia in this what so ever. If Russia was not communist at the time, I dare say that May the 9th would be remembered in a different way in Russia. The celebration of Victory Day is a Soviet holiday with a Soviet mentality. I wonder how long it will be before Russians view their history differently and allow the true grief that such a tragedy would bring to a nation. Perhaps the pain runs so deep, that this country is not quite ready, and therefore the Victory celebrations are still a method of denial. Russia needs your prayers.
2 comments:
There are a number of books on this very subject which is a very complex mix of history, memory, cultural narratives, and political propaganda. An excellent one which you probably can't get a hold of now but might some time in the future is "The Living and the Dead: The Rise and Fall of the Cult of World War II in Russia" by (I think Nina) Tumarkin. So you are right to think about it and discuss it, but it's very very complex and I don't think there are any short or simple answers.
Thanks for reminding me of the day, I can't believe I forgot!
Yes I agree that it is complex. As I listened to my teacher yesterday I found myself feeling more compassion than previously. Previously my thoughs were simply "How can you possibly celebrate that?" Now I have a deeper understanding as to why the day is celebrated, but that still doesn't mean that I think it is a good thing to celebrate. To have heard the comments coming from our friend, and knowing that she is sensitive to the Holy Spirit in her life, I definitely thought that her response is a better one.
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