Yesterday, the Russian embassy in Pretoria marked a special event dedicated to the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazism. Victory Day – marked on May 9 each year in Russia and May 8 in Europe – serves as a remembrance of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The day was first inaugurated in the 16 republics of the Soviet Union, following the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender late on the evening of May 8 1945.
Russian ambassador to SA Ilya Rogachev addressed a number of delegates at the embassy yesterday, and told them that Russia had made a crucial contribution to the defeat of Nazism, and that peoples of the USSR had to pay a high price for that victory.
He said it was due to their courage, readiness to sacrifice their lives, their resilience and tenacity that Nazism was defeated in 1945.
“Victory Day is a special holiday for us, Russians. Our country lost over 26- million men in World War II, including 17-million civilians, and over 40% of national wealth. Many parts of the country were ruined; some sectors of economy were destroyed and restored from the scratch following the end of the war.
"Against the USSR, Hitler led the army the strength of which rested on basically the entire Europe’s economic and industrial potential,” said Rogachev. "The Soviet Union liberated European nations from Nazism at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives of the Red Army soldiers.
“Some European countries would prefer to completely wipe out the truth about World War II, especially when it comes to the USSR’s key role in defeating Nazism and the facts of solidarity of those countries’ leadership with Hitler.
“That is why rewriting history is currently in full swing in the West, with monuments to Soviet soldiers being dismantled, Nazi criminals being declared ‘freedom fighters’, and liberators being portrayed occupants.
“But our opponents will not succeed. In this struggle for truth and justice we will take cue from our heroic ancestors,” Rogachev said.
Thabiso Lehoko, Pretoria
READER LETTER | ‘Soviet Union liberated Europeans from Nazism’
Image: Reuters//Maxim Shemetov
Yesterday, the Russian embassy in Pretoria marked a special event dedicated to the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazism. Victory Day – marked on May 9 each year in Russia and May 8 in Europe – serves as a remembrance of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The day was first inaugurated in the 16 republics of the Soviet Union, following the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender late on the evening of May 8 1945.
Russian ambassador to SA Ilya Rogachev addressed a number of delegates at the embassy yesterday, and told them that Russia had made a crucial contribution to the defeat of Nazism, and that peoples of the USSR had to pay a high price for that victory.
He said it was due to their courage, readiness to sacrifice their lives, their resilience and tenacity that Nazism was defeated in 1945.
“Victory Day is a special holiday for us, Russians. Our country lost over 26- million men in World War II, including 17-million civilians, and over 40% of national wealth. Many parts of the country were ruined; some sectors of economy were destroyed and restored from the scratch following the end of the war.
"Against the USSR, Hitler led the army the strength of which rested on basically the entire Europe’s economic and industrial potential,” said Rogachev. "The Soviet Union liberated European nations from Nazism at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives of the Red Army soldiers.
“Some European countries would prefer to completely wipe out the truth about World War II, especially when it comes to the USSR’s key role in defeating Nazism and the facts of solidarity of those countries’ leadership with Hitler.
“That is why rewriting history is currently in full swing in the West, with monuments to Soviet soldiers being dismantled, Nazi criminals being declared ‘freedom fighters’, and liberators being portrayed occupants.
“But our opponents will not succeed. In this struggle for truth and justice we will take cue from our heroic ancestors,” Rogachev said.
Thabiso Lehoko, Pretoria
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