May 9th in Moscow

In Russia World War II is referred to as the Great Patriotic War. Growing up I remember being taught that Russia single-handedly defeated the Nazis and won World War II. So naturally, May 9th, Russia’s Victory Day, is a very important holiday celebrated by everyone in the country. In Moscow, the day is commemorated by a parade in Red Square, as well as many smaller parades all over the city. Fireworks brighten the skies in the evening.

When I was little, I remember celebrating May 9th very well. There were always special pre-holiday events at school. On May 9th, my family usually gathered at my grandmother’s house in the afternoon for dinner. My dad or my grandfather would take me to the nearby sports complex to watch a local parade and other festivities taking place there in the morning.

Early May is a beautiful time to be in Moscow. Lilacs, apple and cherry trees are in bloom. The greenery is still of that tender green color, not yet tainted by pollution. Beautiful tulips are nicely arranged in flowerbeds all over the city. It is possible that this year particular care has been put into making the city center look nice and clean, because the new president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, was inaugurated in Kremlin on May 7th.



Also for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, tanks rolled through Red Square as part of the Victory Day parade. Nick and I could not pass up the chance to see the tanks. Of course, Red Square has been closed to ordinary people since the day before, so watching the parade itself was out of the question. However, all the heavy artillery had to drive to and from Red Square, though the route seemed to be a mystery not only to us—foreigners, but to many Muscovites as well—more on that later. We finally saw the tanks along Sadovoe Koltso, each one bigger and more powerful then its predecessor, as they returned from the parade.

Later in the day we saw a small parade along Arbat. World War II veterans surrounded by family and supporting each other, many of them carrying flowers, walked with gloomy faces behind a small military marching band. All over the city I noticed many people carrying bunches of flowers. They would give single flowers to veterans passing them by on the street.