Russians remember Stalingrad 70 years on
Source: Agencies |
February 3, 2013, Sunday
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THE city of Volgograd readopted its old name of Stalingrad for a few hours yesterday as Russia commemorated the 70th anniversary of the battle that turned the tide of World War II.
The victory in the six-month Battle of Stalingrad, which killed about 2 million people, is a symbol of national pride which has produced an outburst of patriotic fervor and, for some, nostalgia for leader Josef Stalin.
President Vladimir Putin flew to Volgograd, known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961, to lay a wreath and meet veterans after a parade led by soldiers in World War II uniforms and featuring a wartime T-34 tank.
"I saw cities in Europe practically untouched by the war, countries that capitulated to the more powerful enemies even before war was declared," First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in a speech at the parade.
"But we are not like that. Our grandfathers, our fathers, our older generation, our great leaders, fought here for each building, for each street."
Hundreds of war veterans turned up for the parade on Volgograd's central Square of the Fallen Fighters, their coats weighed down by medals, the youngest of them now 89.
Some 27 months after Stalingrad, Soviet troops took Berlin.
Under a decision by the city council intended to please the veterans, Volgograd was referred to as Stalingrad at the official events. Admirers of Stalin posted his portrait in minibuses, in a move not approved by the authorities.
Pride in the bravery of Soviet troops and the endurance of civilians trapped during the battle unites almost all Russians - at a time when many complain of divisions in society.
Putin faces criticism over corruption and a lack of political freedoms. Memories of Stalingrad offer a chance to burnish his credentials as the man who restored the nation's glory after post-Soviet chaos and conflicts.
The victory in the six-month Battle of Stalingrad, which killed about 2 million people, is a symbol of national pride which has produced an outburst of patriotic fervor and, for some, nostalgia for leader Josef Stalin.
President Vladimir Putin flew to Volgograd, known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961, to lay a wreath and meet veterans after a parade led by soldiers in World War II uniforms and featuring a wartime T-34 tank.
"I saw cities in Europe practically untouched by the war, countries that capitulated to the more powerful enemies even before war was declared," First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in a speech at the parade.
"But we are not like that. Our grandfathers, our fathers, our older generation, our great leaders, fought here for each building, for each street."
Hundreds of war veterans turned up for the parade on Volgograd's central Square of the Fallen Fighters, their coats weighed down by medals, the youngest of them now 89.
Some 27 months after Stalingrad, Soviet troops took Berlin.
Under a decision by the city council intended to please the veterans, Volgograd was referred to as Stalingrad at the official events. Admirers of Stalin posted his portrait in minibuses, in a move not approved by the authorities.
Pride in the bravery of Soviet troops and the endurance of civilians trapped during the battle unites almost all Russians - at a time when many complain of divisions in society.
Putin faces criticism over corruption and a lack of political freedoms. Memories of Stalingrad offer a chance to burnish his credentials as the man who restored the nation's glory after post-Soviet chaos and conflicts.
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