Victory Day over Nazism in World War II

Victory Day over Nazism in World War II (Ukrainian: День перемоги над нацизмом у Другій світовій війні) or Victory Day (Ukrainian: День перемоги) is a national holiday and a day off in Ukraine. It was first celebrated on 9 May 2015 and follows the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on May 8 (which pays tribute to the victims of World War II and was also first celebrated in 2015).[1] The holiday replaced the Soviet Union/Russian Federation "Victory Day", which was celebrated in the post-Soviet Union states, including Ukraine, until 2014 inclusive. CIS member states boycott this holiday and referred to the Ukrainians as "revanchists", "ultra-nationalist" and "forgot the bitter lessons of Great Patriotic War".

For other uses, see Victory Day.
See also: Victory in Europe Day and Victory Day (9 May)
Victory Day over Nazism
in World War II
The official symbol for the holiday is the Remembrance poppy.
Official nameUkrainian: День перемоги над нацизмом у Другій світовій війні
Observed by Ukraine
Date9 May
Next time9 May 2021 (2021-05-09)
Frequencyannual
World War II
Alphabetical indices
Navigation

Differences of "Victory Day"

On 9 April 2015 the Ukrainian parliament approved a set of laws of decommunization that included canceling the Law of Ukraine "On perpetuation of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and replaced Victory Day with the new holiday titled "Victory Day over Nazism in World War II".[2] Because of the decommunization laws Soviet symbols cannot be used during the celebrating of the holiday, since from 15 May 2015 Communist and Nazi symbols are prohibited in Ukraine.[3] Besides, the term "Great Patriotic War" was removed from Ukrainian legislation.[4][5] Also in the new holiday there is a bias from history of hostilities to histories of certain people and in result honoring instead of celebration.[6]

Celebrations by year

2015

The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory have published teaching materials in advance and recommended the holiday be celebrated in a new format. Despite the fact that the law "About perpetuation of the victory over Nazism in World War II 1939 - 1945" officially did not came into force, the holiday in Ukraine officially was celebrated in a format different from Russian formats of celebration of "Victory Day". On this day there were ceremony of laying flowers at monuments to unknown soldiers of the Red Army, in Kyiv - a peace march involving military brass bands from Ukraine, Estonia, Jordan, Lithuania, Poland, and Serbia. It was after the ceremony of oath of cadets in the presence of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.[7][8]

The day before, Poroshenko delivered a speech to a Verkhovna Rada filled with veterans of the Red Army, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Anti-Terrorist Operation veterans, as well as former presidents of Ukraine (Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko) and Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon.[9]

For this memorable day the President of Ukraine established a state award by his order - the anniversary Medal "70 Years of Victory over Nazism".[10]

2016

2016 was the first year that the holiday was celebrated as an official holiday (although the first celebrations took place the year before, the law establishing the holiday was adopted a couple days after 9 May).[11] Institute of National Memory presented a new website about the holiday that year.[12] Parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy referred to the Russians in his address as "revanchists" who "forgot the bitter lessons of war".[13] The annual Immortal Regiment march was disrupted by nationalists waving flags of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Those who took part in the March counteracted the nationalists, chanting "Fascism will not pass" before laying flowers at the Eternal Flame.[14]

2017

More than 30,000 police officers were deployed to monitor holiday marches. The 72nd anniversary celebrations coincides with the ceremonies for the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv.[15]

2019

President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky arranged a meeting in Zaporizhia of a veteran Red Army Captain and a veteran of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.[16]

2020

The 2020 celebrations in honor of the diamond jubilee were cancelled by order of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine.[17] On 7 May, Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko announced the organization of a planned event in the Park of Eternal Glory with a high security presence.[18] President Zelensky went on a working visit to the Luhansk Oblast where he visited an urban settlement that is divided by the border between Ukraine and Russia. In the settlement, he visited the memorial complex "Ukraine to the Liberators".[19] He also visited the Zakarpattia Oblast, where he also laid flowers at the "Hill of Glory" memorial complex.[20] During his holiday address on 9 May, he paid tribute to Ukrainians who fought during the war, including Crimean Tatar Amet-Khan Sultan, American military personnel Alex M. Diachenko and Michael Strank, as well as Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub.[21] Zelensky also announced the creation of memorial project, which would involve the placement of bells in the four corners of Ukraine.[22]

Symbols

The official symbol of celebration of Victory Day over Nazism in World War II and Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation is red poppy (remembrance poppy) flower, which is the world common symbol of memorable days of World War II. It is used in Ukraine in its own styling developed by Kharkiv designer Sergei Mishakin. The motto of both days is "1939—1945. We remember. We prevail" (Ukrainian: 1939-1945. Пам’ятаємо. Перемагаємо).[6]

See also

References
  1. Ukraine celebrates Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation (Video), UNIAN (8 May 2017)
  2. Ukraine celebrates Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II, UNIAN (9 May 2016)
  3. Poroshenko signed the laws about decomunization. Ukrayinska Pravda. 15 May 2015
    Poroshenko signs laws on denouncing Communist, Nazi regimes, Interfax-Ukraine. 15 May 2015
  4. «Велику Вітчизняну війну» замінили на «Другу світову» — закон (in Ukrainian). Fakty. ICTV. 09.04.2015
  5. Депутати врегулювали питання про відзначення в Україні перемоги над нацизмом (in Ukrainian). The Ukrainian Week. 09.04.2015
  6. День Перемоги в Україні відзначають за новою традицією. ОГО. 09.05.2015
  7. Наша країна відзначає День Перемоги у Другій світовій війні (in Ukrainian). Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. 09.05.2015
  8. Як Україна відзначає 70-річчя перемоги над нацизмом. Марафон (in Ukrainian). Espreso TV. 09.05.2015
  9. "Ветерани Червоної армії, УПА та герої АТО разом на Дні пам'яті та примирення". Радіо Свобода (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  10. УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ № 249/2015 Про встановлення відзнаки Президента України — ювілейної медалі "70 років Перемоги над нацизмом". President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). president.gov.ua. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  11. "Ukraine celebrates Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II | UNIAN". www.unian.info.
  12. "Institute of National Memory presented website about Ukraine's part in the WWII". 112.international.
  13. "Parubiy: Russian revanchists forgot lessons of WWII". 112.international.
  14. "Nationalists disrupt Victory Day celebrations in Ukraine". www.rt.com.
  15. "Ukraine police arrest dozens at tense Victory Day events". www.irishtimes.com.
  16. "A meeting of a LIAISON UPA and a veteran of the Soviet army was arranged in the city of zelensky - PHOTOS". www.061.ua. May 8, 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  17. "Ukraine To Skip This Year's WWII Victory Day Celebrations Amid Pandemic - Prime Minister". UrduPoint.
  18. "Kyiv police to tighten security on May 9, as Victory Day event is planned in Ukraine's capital". 112.international.
  19. "On the Ukrainian-Russian border, President honored the memory of those killed in World War II". Official website of the President of Ukraine.
  20. "Zelensky honors memory of fallen soldiers who liberated Ukraine from Nazi invaders (Photo)". www.unian.info.
  21. "Address by the President on the Day of Victory over Nazism in the Second World War". Official website of the President of Ukraine.
  22. "Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces memorial project: bells-symbols will be placed in four corners of Ukraine". Official website of the President of Ukraine.

Sources
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