May 2, 2015

Victory Day commemoration geared to presenting a new Ukraine

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KYIV – Never will be it more apparent that Russia and Ukraine are going their separate ways than this year’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Not only will the main commemorations be held on different days, but the Ukrainian state events will be stripped of any symbolism of Soviet communism for the first time. The government also decided to do away with the May 9 military parade on Kyiv’s central boulevard, the Khreshchatyk, once and for all.

“This era has disappeared forever, at least in our country,” said Yurii Krykunov, a Kyiv City Council deputy who is among those responsible for organizing this year’s commemorations in Kyiv. “I think these commemorations will be two absolute contrasts, revealing that we are moving towards civilization and they [in Russia] are moving towards a dead end.”

Victory Day has been among the biggest holidays on the Ukrainian calendar ever since 1965, when it was established. Many Ukrainians have used the holiday to plan long vacations, given that May 1 – International Workers Day – was also a state holiday.

Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) has been commemorated on May 8 in the Western world because that’s when the German Nazi leadership declared its capitulation. Yet Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin declared Victory Day on May 9 because it was 0:43 a.m. Moscow time when the act was signed (22:43 in Berlin).

In a symbolic move intended as a break from the past and as indication of Ukraine’s European integration, the government will hold a larger ceremony for the May 8 commemoration, as compared to the limited events planned for May 9.

European leaders are invited to join their Ukrainian counterparts for an evening ceremony at what is called the Memorial Complex of the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War. They will participate in a ceremony laying the foundation for a Memory Alley honoring all victims and casualties of World War II, regardless of their circumstances.

A possible event being planned will involve Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) veterans, who fought both the Soviet Red Army and Nazi Germans, laying a garland at the Memorial Alley together with Red Army partisans, or those who supported and fought alongside the Red Army without being members, Mr. Krykunov said.

“Despite having fought on opposite sides, they found the possibility to communicate,” he said. “That would be very symbolic and we’d really like that.”

A ceremonial concert will consist of classical European and Ukrainian music, while the city will be decorated with the flags of Ukraine and the European Union.

The holiday’s official symbol is the red poppy, an international symbol honoring all victims of war, which schoolchildren will make and hand to veterans at local ceremonies.

The ability to introduce these new themes arose after Parliament approved legislation on April 9 forbidding the public display of Soviet symbols. Institute of National Memory Director Volodymyr Viatrovych, one of the bill’s authors, assured the public afterwards that the law wouldn’t be enforced to absurd lengths such as “imprisoning a babusia or didus” (an elderly woman or elderly man).

“Soviet symbols won’t be forbidden for the veterans,” Mr. Krykunov confirmed. “If they have a Order of Lenin medal or Order of Glory medal or a red star, they won’t be forbidden from wearing them. Some of these awards even have the colors of the St. George ribbon. All we ask is that they attach a red poppy symbol side-by-side.”

The government will hold commemorative ceremonies on May 9, but on a scale smaller than ever. Veterans and Communist activists will hear Soviet war hymns and lay flowers at Glory Park and the Alley of Glory. But for the first time, however, they won’t have a parade or honorary processions.

Indeed in recent years, the annual holiday became more of a military celebration than a commemoration of the World War II victory, given that most of the marchers were too young to have fought in that war, said Petro Oleshchuk, a political science lecturer at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv.

Most participants were the elderly, who enjoyed the holiday’s nostalgia, as well as veterans of other wars, he said.

In fact, the youngest a World War II veteran could have been in 2010 was 80 years old. Now that would be 85 years old, and no more than 150 veterans will attend the May 8 and 9 commemorations, Mr. Krykunov said. The state will provide them with transportation to and from the events.

The parade and honorary processions first vanished last year with the presence of Euro-Maidan tents on Khreshchatyk, as well as the public’s disinterest in participating in a military celebration following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This year, the government is making a conscious effort to do away with everything Soviet. The Verkhovna Rada voted on April 9 to eliminate the official status of the term “Great Patriotic War,” replacing it with “World War II.” The same bill established May 8 as the Day of Memory and Reconciliation.

“Unfortunately, we see how Soviet myths about this war are used by the Russian Federation and its propaganda to wage war against contemporary Ukraine,” the head of the Institute of National Memory, Volodymyr Viatrovych, told Parliament before the bill was approved. He added, “Our task is to return the true memory of the years of the war and rid ourselves of Soviet clichés.”

On the other hand, the Russian government has indicated it intends to embrace all the myths and clichés in what will be more a celebration of Russian imperialism and nationalism rather than the World War II victory, Mr. Oleshchuk said.

“The victory will be a pretext, but the focus will be on the current military might, including hardware and soldiers,” he said, stressing that there aren’t any military officers left who served in the second world war. “A handful of veterans will be trotted out in front of cameras or on a stage, but real veterans aren’t left anymore, in a true sense.”

What’s likely is that the Russian government will repeat its script of heavy artillery being paraded and surrounded by red Communist flags, speeches taking most of the credit for the victory against the Nazis and demonization of post-Soviet states reconciling their complicated histories as fascist, Mr. Oleshchuk said.

“They will portray the current conflict as an extension of World War II in the fight against ‘fascism,’ or an abstract enemy,” he said. “They will demonize the West to an extent, and portray the USSR as the victor against evil Western influences in the war as part of the effort to promote the idea of the USSR’s renewal.”

The uniting symbol will be the orange-and-black striped St. George ribbons, which first symbolized the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany but has been transformed into a symbol of Russian imperialism.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s widely recognized satellite in Ukraine, the Communist Party, has notified the Kyiv City Council that it will hold an honorary processions on the Khreshchatyk for both the May 1 and May 9 state holidays.

Nationalist organizations, including the Svoboda party, said they will prevent any attempts by the Communists to walk along Kyiv’s central boulevard.

The Kyiv government might have to scuttle its plans for children to be on the Khreshchatyk on May 9 to paint pictures related to the theme of peace and reconciliation, Mr. Krykunov commented.

That May 8 and 9 will be two state holidays, side-by-side, reflects how Ukrainian society is in a period of transition, Mr. Oleshchuk said. Moreover, most of the commemorations on the local level will look similar to prior years, including the Soviet symbolism likely to appear in Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has yet to sign the four de-Sovietization bills approved. Yuriy Syrotiuk, the deputy head of the Svoboda party, said that’s a clear signal to local state officials that they can continue to hold Soviet-style commemorations.

Mr. Viatrovych said he supports two simultaneous holidays, which conforms with United Nations recommendations. About 80 percent of Ukrainians still view May 9 as a holiday, according to polls he read.

“There are still quite a few people who participated in these events and it’s a victory day for them,” he said. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to break their backs over this.”

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