The Great Patriotic War ended 71 years ago

22:07

“There was a huge fireworks display, extraordinary, and they also raised a portrait of Stalin,” recalls Lidiya Pavlovna Antonova. “The jubilation was such that it is difficult to describe in words. Strangers hugged and kissed on the street. By evening there were even more people on the embankment! It was just spontaneous!”

22:05

According to the memoirs of Vsevolod Vishnevsky: “10 o’clock in the evening. Victory Salute! On Red Square there is the roar of a festive crowd... Music, dancing... Songs break out... More and more masses are pouring into the square happy people. Purple-blue spotlights hit the sky...
Thirty salvos from a thousand guns!
Rain of rockets!
Here it is, our Victory!

22:03

High in the sky, above the construction of the Palace of Soviets and above Pushkin Square, huge portraits of Comrade Stalin appeared. When the fireworks began, the beams of powerful spotlights crossed the portraits, and they lit up, attracting the gaze of hundreds of thousands of Muscovites.

22:00

The festive fireworks begin. Moscow saluted the troops of the Red Army, ships and units of the Navy, which won a great victory, with thirty artillery salvoes from a thousand guns.

21:57

From Levitan’s memoirs: “In the evening I was called to the Kremlin and handed the text of the order Supreme Commander about the victory over Nazi Germany. It was supposed to be read in 35 minutes. The radio studio from which such broadcasts were broadcast was located not far from the Kremlin, in the GUM building. To get there, you had to cross Red Square. But before us is a sea of people.
We took about five meters in battle, but nothing further. “Comrades,” I shout, “let me through. We're on business!" And they answer us: “What’s going on there! Now Levitan will read the victory order on the radio and the fireworks will begin. Stand like everyone else, listen and watch!” And then it dawned on us: there is also a radio studio in the Kremlin, we need to read from there! We run back, explain the situation to the commandant, and he gives the command to the guards not to stop the two people running through the Kremlin corridors.”

21:55

Levitan speaks on the radio: “Attention! Moscow speaks! All radio stations of the Soviet Union are working! The Great Patriotic War... has ended victoriously. Nazi Germany is completely defeated!

21:35

Only at the end of May 1945 was it decided to hold a parade. On June 22, Stalin signed an order to organize a parade. Military academies, schools, as well as combined regiments of each of the fronts participating in the war were supposed to take part in it. Marshal Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the parade, and Marshal Zhukov was appointed host of the parade. The rostrum for honored guests was traditionally organized on the Mausoleum building. In addition to Stalin, members of the Politburo were present at the parade: Kalinin, Molotov and others.

21:30

It was decided not to hold a parade, since the overwhelming number of military units were located outside the USSR at that moment. It was necessary to wait for their return to fully organize the action.

21:00

From the Kremlin to the people short speech Joseph Stalin addressed. “The Great Patriotic War, which was waged by the Soviet people against Nazi invaders, is victoriously completed,” the leader solemnly announced. - Germany is completely destroyed. Glory to our great people, the victorious people! Eternal Glory to the heroes who fell in battles with the enemy and gave their lives for the freedom and happiness of our people!”

20:30

“My mother and I cried with her,” says Olga Vladimirovna Gaiduk. - I remember this very well. Then the elder sister ran to the Bolshoi Theater, there they rejoiced and danced all evening, but first there were tears...”

20:15

“People were walking and there was a woman’s howl. They sobbed and cried for their dead men. This nervous tension resulted in crying that we had finally suffered. Joy, fun and rejoicing came on the same day, but a little later. At first there were tears, and then there was joy,” recalls Leonid Gennadievich Chetverikov.

20:00

Joseph Stalin writes the following lines to US President Harry Truman: “I cordially thank you for your friendly congratulations on the occasion unconditional surrender Hitler's Germany. The peoples of the Soviet Union highly value the participation of the friendly American people in the current liberation war. The joint struggle of Soviet, American and British armies against the German invaders, which ended in their complete defeat and defeat, will go down in history as an example of the military commonwealth of our peoples.”

19:45

In the Bornholm area Soviet aviation continues to strike at German convoys leaving to the west (over 50 ships in total were discovered), of which 10 were sunk and about the same number were damaged. IN air battles 16 German planes were shot down in the area of the island.

19:30

Thousands of people go to Red Square. They come here in entire teams from Zamoskvorechye, Krasnaya Presnya, and Sokolniki.

19:15

By order of the Main Administration of Local air defense The NKVD of the USSR abolished the “threatened situation” throughout the entire territory of the Soviet Union.

19:00

A mobile group of the 38th Army advanced to the Choteborz area (100 km southeast of Prague), which covered 135 km in a day.

18:55

Joseph Stalin receives the following letter from Churchill: “I send you heartfelt greetings on the occasion of the brilliant victory you won in driving out the invaders from your country and defeating Nazi tyranny. I firmly believe that the future of humanity depends on friendship and mutual understanding between the British and Russian peoples. Here, in our island fatherland, we think about you very often today, and we send you wishes of happiness and prosperity from the depths of our hearts. We want that after all the sacrifices and suffering in that dark valley through which we went together, we are now bound by true friendship and mutual sympathy, could go further under the shining sun of a victorious world.
I ask my wife to convey these words of friendship and admiration to you all.”

18:45

On Revolution Square, Muscovites dance, throw soldiers returning from the war into the air, and sing “Katyusha.”

18:30

Units completely capitulated German Wehrmacht located in Austria.

18:25

On Gorky Street, the wide sidewalks are filled with festively dressed people - animated, laughing, exchanging jokes.

18:20

In Poland, Hero of the Soviet Union Iosif Vasilyevich Matrunchik is blown up by an anti-tank mine.

18:15

The last one happened sea battle in the Bornholm area: three Soviet torpedo boats caught up with an enemy convoy (transport, tug, 11 patrol boats). When the convoy was ordered to return to the port, the Germans opened fire. The torpedo launch failed, our boats began to retreat to the port of Roenne, two sailors were wounded in this battle, one soon died from his wounds. The convoy left for Denmark.

18:10

On Pushkin Square, a huge crowd moves, moves, forms separate circles - they dance inside them.

18:00

At this time, in Moscow, 250 artists performed in front of the jubilant people, with trucks serving as their stage.

18:00

A mobile front group entered Prague and covered 200 km in 24 hours.

13:00

Meanwhile, the 6th Guards Tank Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front met with units of the 4th Guards Tank Army 35 kilometers southeast of Prague. On this day, I.M.’s 53rd Army went on the offensive. Managarova and the 1st Guards Cavalry Mechanized Group I.A. Plieva.

12:55

Overtaken in the Austrian city of Zwettl, the commander of the 3rd Panzer Division “Totenkopf”, SS Brigadefuehrer Helmut Becker, surrendered into American captivity. Becker was later handed over to Soviet troops. In the USSR, he was sentenced to imprisonment in the Poltava prison, and then to serve his sentence in the Vorkuta camp.

12:50

General Zhukov received a call from Moscow and was informed that all the documentation on the surrender of Nazi Germany had been received and handed over to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

12:45

Utesov arrived with his bus and was applauded. Because of the noise, nothing could be heard; he went to Red Square. The crowd cheered and cried.

12:35

A German radiogram was intercepted from Bornholm stating that there was a large concentration of ships and transport vessels in the roads there, with more than 7 thousand soldiers and officers on them, and the movement of ships continued.

12:30

“It seems impossible, but everyone understood each other, became close. Many cried - they lost relatives and friends. Their comforters also cried. Everyone had losses. Missing in our family cousin Nah. The families of my mother’s niece, Aunt Rosa and her husband, Uncle Yakov and his wife, were left in unmarked, unknown graves. They asked the soldiers where they fought, did they meet my father, son, brother? They took checks, cups, sandwiches out of their pockets and treated their neighbors,” recalls L. Surkova.

12:25

“Cars were coming from the Spasskaya Tower,
But they were hampered by the barrier of people,
The boys, clinging to the cabins,
We tried to make out the leaders.
There was no way for the military
Now they were taken captive by their own people.
For the first time in four years
Peaceful battles awaited them,” recalled Alexander Timofeevsky in his poem “The Ninth of May 1945: A Chronicle.”

12:15

“...On May 9, 1945, with the permission of the commander, I left for Moscow for 3 days. It is simply impossible to tell what was happening in Moscow that day. Everyone rejoiced, from young to old. I arrived in Moscow in the morning and it took 2 hours to get to the apartment. It was impossible not only to drive through, but also to walk through. The soldiers are grabbed, rocked, kissed. In the evening there was a beautiful fireworks display, songs and dances throughout Moscow. It’s good that as soon as I arrived, I took a liter of vodka at the station, otherwise it was impossible to buy it in the evening. We celebrated Victory Day with our family, apartment owners and neighbors. They drank to victory, to those who did not live to see this day, and to ensuring that this never happens again. carnage. On May 10, it was no longer possible to buy vodka in Moscow; they drank it all.” (From the memoirs of N.A. Kryuchkov, navigator of military transport aviation.)

May 9, 1945, Victory salute. Newspaper “Front-line illustration” No. 9-10 (107-108), May 1945

12:00

Newspapers are published with the slogan “It was not Stalin who won, the people won!” Under the slogan were written the following words: “Long live the great inspirer and organizer of historical victories Soviet people our dear and beloved Stalin!!!”

11:55

The Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery in Moscow is crowded. “On Victory Day at the Preobrazhenskoe cemetery it was like Easter - the bird cherry blossoms were in bloom, a fresh wind was blowing, and crowds of people came to remember those who did not return from the front...” - E.P. Mayorova recalls about Victory Day.

11:45

“It’s unusually festive and sunny in the city. Even the conductor on the tram does not take money from the military: “I pay for you myself,” recalls the military correspondent and writer Vsevolod Vishnevsky. - There are many officers and soldiers on the streets - they survived, they made it! Passers-by stop them, hug them, kiss them...

And how the whole country rejoices today!

Moscow is beautiful and clean! How different it is from Berlin, which I persistently see in difficult dreams.”

11:30

From German captivity The squadron commander, senior lieutenant Valery Polunovsky, was released. In October 1943 in the area of Lake Ilmen Novgorod region He destroyed a German multi-purpose Me-110 aircraft with a ram on a Yak-1 plane. In total, Polunovsky’s personal account included 479 combat missions, 13 of which were at night. In 46 air battles he shot down 13 enemy aircraft. On March 27, 1944, Valery Fedorovich was on a mission to escort an Il-2 group. During the attack on the enemy airfield Parkanovo, his plane was shot down. Valery Fedorovich jumped out of the burning car by parachute, but was captured. He was initially placed in the Wistritz concentration camp, from where he escaped on August 22, 1944, but was captured and transferred to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. After a second unsuccessful escape attempt, Valery Fedorovich was transferred to the Buchenwald death camp.

11:15

According to information that is upon request Soviet command presented by Field Marshal Keitel, May 9 at Soviet-German front the Wehrmacht had more than 1.5 million soldiers and officers. In total, from May 9 to May 17, the Red Army captured about 1,391 thousand enemy soldiers and officers and 101 generals based on the act of surrender.

German prisoners

11:05

Zoya Dolgusheva, a resident of Sevastopol, recalls: “The district called the village council that the war was over. The church bells rang in celebration, everyone jumped out into the street and ran to our Zelenovsky village council, where the rally began. There were so many tears! Almost all of our village women remained widows and their children orphans. This is truly a victory with tears in our eyes.”

11:00

In honor of the Victory, rallies begin across the country in factories, factories, construction sites, on collective farms, in the squares of cities and villages.

10:55

When we approached the door, the commander was already on the ground, where he was congratulated “on the victory,” and at that time he seriously reported to someone about the completed flight and gave one a package, and another a package with the Victory Banner. I remember one thing for sure: there were four people standing next to him - two generals and two in civilian uniform. There was already a crowd of people standing around us, and photojournalists were clicking the buttons of their cameras.”

10:50

Taxied to specified location, braked and turned off the engine. I immediately put the package and the Banner in the hands of the commander, as a valuable, most valuable cargo that such value has not existed on earth in the entire history of mankind. The entire crew wholeheartedly shakes the commander’s hand, with pride about the accomplishment of a big government task. We saw off the commander with a satisfied look and followed him to front door, and the passengers, in turn, had long since left and mixed with the people meeting them.

10:42

I was worried because, on the instructions of the commander, the package with the Pact of Surrender of Nazi Germany was in my navigator’s tablet, and the package - the Victory Banner - lay under my right elbow near the pilot’s seat. My excitement rises, I want to shout “Hurray, Victory!”...

10:33

The act of surrender was delivered to Moscow. “The flight lasted about six hours. We arrived in Moscow at about the eleventh hour,” recalls Abdusamat Taymetov. — The plane landed and rolled smoothly along the asphalt strip. We can already see from afar how people have gathered to meet us at the air terminal of the central airport. (Today - between the Dynamo and Airport metro stations. - Gazeta.Ru.)

10:30

Oleg Yatskevich recalls: “My family miraculously survived the Leningrad blockade without losses. As Victory approached, I began to ask my mother: “When we (!) win, will there be cakes?” (I remembered cakes from pre-war times and, naturally, considered these products to be the pinnacle of cooking.)
And then came May 9, 1945! Victory! That day, my mother bought me and my brother a block of ice cream each! I will remember the taste of Victory for the rest of my life!
Mom laughed, and my older brother made a “masterpiece” for me - he buttered a piece of bread and sprinkled it with granulated sugar and “powdered” cocoa.”

10:15

Front-line soldiers meet at the park near Bolshoi Theater. It is this square that will become a traditional meeting place for veterans in subsequent years.

10:10

A crowd of people walks along Nevsky Prospekt in Leningrad and sings “Katyusha”.

From the memoirs of Boris Goller: “At the corner of Nevsky and Proletkult, someone calls out: “Soviet people, help detain the bandit!” - and blood flows from his face. And the Soviet people, who defeated Hitler and the most terrible war machine fascism - and try not to look. There are a lot of bandits in the city - this is also a consequence of the war. Peace is more difficult than war - it has always been so, it will always be so! In war there is at least clarity - who is friend and who is enemy. In war it is clearer why one must sacrifice one’s life.”

Prague is completely occupied and cleared of the enemy by troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

Grossman's boys opened the door: “Victory!” They ran through all the rooms, shouting this amazing word loudly. My uncle Pasha, a disabled person, smiled, rose heavily from his chair and silently hobbled into another room, and his wife fell with her head on the table and sobbed loudly - their two sons died. One on Oryol-Kursk Bulge in 1943, another exactly a year ago, in 1944, in Belarus. Dvorkin knocked and came in with a bottle of wine, followed by other neighbors, and we all drank to the victory. In our glasses, wine was mixed with tears - tears of joy and grief.”

“And the radio broadcast the marches, one after another. It still seems to me that I heard one of those marches for the only time in my life; it was swift and sparkled with silver. One will end - a pause, we freeze, holding our breath, waiting for some words. Music again. The windows were open, there was no sound or rustle on the street. Our house stood on Herzen Street (now Nikitskaya), in our two rooms the windows were on two sides - on Herzen Street, along which the tram then ran, and on Sobinovsky Lane, right on the red-brick Theater of the Revolution (now the Mayakovsky Theater) . GITIS could be seen in the distance, and down the Herzen Street was the Conservatory. And so, when dawn had already arrived and the next march had sounded, the radio went silent. Everyone froze, the silence seemed unbearable. It lasted for a minute, and Levitan’s solemn voice: “Moscow speaks...”

“On the morning of May 9, all the residents of our communal apartment were awake. I was finishing my second year at the Moscow Pedagogical Institute and lived in the family of my uncle, my father’s brother, and his wife. No one was sleeping, we sat at the table, above which hung a black cardboard radio plate, listened and were silent. The neighbors did not sleep either - the silent, as if mute, cook from the Kremlin canteen with his wife, Tsilya Grossman did not sleep with her husband - a disabled worker and two boys, the real swindler Dvorkin did not sleep with his wife and daughter, talking about his frauds, laughing contentedly , and always ready to treat everyone; my aunt Zhenya, a former actress who was alternately at odds with all her neighbors, did not sleep,” recalls Svetlana Obolenskaya.

Meanwhile, the troops of the 5th Guards Army With their main forces they eliminated the enemy group northeast of Prague, and its vanguard also reached the northern outskirts of Prague.

Muscovites sing right in the streets " dark night...”, “A fire curls in a cramped stove...”, “Glorious sea, sacred Baikal...”, “Deaf unknown taiga...”.

In Moscow, people continue to take to the streets and congratulate each other. The soldiers are kissed and thrown into the sky. “It still stands out to me how people, overwhelmed with the joy of the end of the war, surrounded those they came across in military uniform and shook them, that is, threw them up and caught them in their arms,” recalls native Muscovite V.V. Sigaev. — Strangers hugged, laughing and crying at the same time, there were simply no calmly passing by... The family gathered on Kislovka, prepared a festive meal that was not liquid at that time: vinaigrette, the then standard boiled sausage, cheese, herring, pickles, pancakes, tea with jam. We drank a glass and sang front-line songs quietly.”

08:48

General Eisenhower's headquarters announced: "7th american army reports the arrest of Goering and Kesselring. According to Goering's testimony, Hitler sentenced him to death penalty for the fact that on April 24 he proposed to replace him as head German Reich. At the time of his arrest, Goering was wearing a uniform with gold stripes and only three awards. IN good mood he declared that he was ready to give all the desired information honestly and in good faith, and told how he had to kill on Hitler’s personal orders.”

Capitulated German troops in the area of Danzig and Gdynia (about 75 thousand soldiers and officers, including 12 generals, laid down their arms).

“Incredible upward shooting began, they saluted that in the end the war was over, and that we had won, and that we were alive. ... And I remember this picture especially vividly - as a sign of surrender, there are white sheets in all the windows,” recalls artilleryman Arkady Blyakher, who met May 9 in Berlin.

Traffic controller in Berlin

“Describe what happened on Theater Square, not in my power. This has not happened and will not happen. Everything that had been accumulating for four years - torment, hope, disappointment, loss - burst out in one spirit, embraced everyone, and was strengthened many times over. It seems impossible, but everyone understood each other and became close,” recalls L. Surkova.

German soldiers blocked on the Courland Peninsula, having learned about the surrender, stopped resisting. Most of the soldiers of the approximately 135,000-strong army began to surrender, some tried to escape to East Prussia. Among them was the commander of the Sixth SS Corps in Courland, SS-Obergruppenführer Walter Kruger. On May 22, 1945, he was captured by Soviet troops and shot himself.

Marches are broadcast on Soviet radio, one after another. Every hour, Levitan's statement about Victory, spoken late at night, is repeated.

“On the morning of May 9, Red Army soldiers walked down the street hugging each other,” recalls military translator Elena Rzhevskaya. - In anticipation of something extraordinary, some indescribable celebration and fun with which this long-awaited Victory Day should be celebrated. Some people were already dancing, others were singing. The military girls were urgently washing their tunics... The tractor was pulling a gun somewhere, and on the barrel the letters were still shining: “Give Berlin!”... Everything remained as before. And at the same time, everything suddenly became different. The guns should not fire anymore, the soldiers should not attack. The long-awaited peace has come to earth... The days of incomparable elation of spirit, when they rushed to Berlin, are now becoming history.”

“...There’s nowhere to write your last name,” recalls Victor Gritsai. - Well, I won’t erase someone’s inscription. We went inside. It's dirty and smoky. One expert says: “This is Hitler’s office!” But this is unlikely. I saw some kind of snag, stepped on it and scrawled with a piece of glass: “Gritt. Stupino."

Soviet soldiers stationed in Berlin went to put up their murals on the Reichstag.

Soldiers sign the walls of the Reistag

06:15

Meanwhile, to accept the surrender of the German garrison, a detachment of torpedo boats (6 units) with a rifle company (108 people) left the port of Kolberg on the Danish island of Bornholm. These forces were commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Kolberg Naval Base, Captain 2nd Rank D.S. Shavtsov.

06:10

Formation is announced to Soviet soldiers in Berlin and the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on the complete surrender of Germany is read out.

05:52

Newspapers with the slogan “It was not Stalin who won, the people who won” are being prepared for publication.

05:35

The plane with the act of surrender was on its way to Moscow. “An hour and a half passed when the sun came out and began to shine directly towards us, into our eyes. The sky is clear - not a single cloud. The height has so far shown one thousand five hundred meters. Moscow transmits the actual weather forecast in the city and at the airfield,” recalled Abdusamat Taymetov.

05:14

Ilya Fedorovich Kulikov recalls: “In the morning, shooting started. Everyone runs, throwing their hats up. They shout that the war is over. We didn't believe it. There were still separate battles with undead fascist groups. When headquarters announced that Victory had arrived, we saluted, I fired three shots in honor of the Victory.”

05:00

The banquet of the Soviet and allied command ends. “The festive dinner ended in the morning with songs and dances,” Zhukov recalled. — They danced out of competition Soviet generals. I, too, could not resist and, remembering my youth, danced the “Russian” dance. They dispersed and dispersed to the sounds of cannonade, which was fired from all types of weapons on the occasion of the victory. Shooting took place in all areas of Berlin and its suburbs. They shot upward, but fragments of mines, shells and bullets fell to the ground, and it was not entirely safe to walk on the morning of May 9. But how different this danger was from the one with which we all got used to during the long years of war.”

04:45

Units of the Wehrmacht and SS began a retreat from Prague, which quickly developed into a panicked flight towards western border Czechoslovakia.

04:30

Advanced units of the 13th and 3rd Guards combined arms armies appeared on the Prague outskirts.

Soviet troops enter Prague

04:25

Despite the fact that it was necessary to fly to Moscow as quickly as possible, the route was built along a broken line under different angles courses to confuse a potential enemy.

04:12

According to Taimetov, after receiving the act of surrender, the pilots were worried about only one thought: how to ensure maximum flight safety and fly to Moscow faster?

04:00

“I’m standing next to Alexey Ivanovich, not far from the door of the plane, and at that moment, among those seeing us off, two people approached us, one in military uniform, and the second in civilian. From the officer's briefcase tall takes out a package sealed with a wax seal and hands it to a man in civilian uniform. And he, in turn, passes it into the hands of Alexei Ivanovich Semenkov, shakes his hand firmly and says that this package must be delivered to Moscow, that here is the Surrender Pact of defeated Nazi Germany, and this package is the Victory Banner! In turn, the commander handed over the documents and package to me, and we shook hands. The commander replies that the task will be completed,” writes Abdusamat Taymetov.

At that moment it was 4 o'clock in the morning in Moscow.

03:58

“We are approaching Berlin, descending to 300 meters, the surroundings of the city are green. ... I was strangely surprised that when they started steering along the path, on both sides at every 50-meter distance there were officers with gold shoulder straps and red flags in their hands,” this is how Abdusamat Taimetov describes his arrival in Berlin.

Abdusamat Taymetov

03:54

“And I return to my place. In all likelihood, the regiment commander noticed that I was walking back and forth. I took the helm to fly the plane and I kept thinking, but who is this old man? Then he couldn’t stand it and still dared to ask the commander.

- Comrade commander, who is he - a white old man, sleeping on the sofa?

He smiled pleasantly and said so that all crew members could hear:

“This little white old man is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Comrade Vyshinsky,” and smiled broadly, pleased with himself that he had given us “secret information.”

03:42

At that time, a plane was flying to Berlin, the first pilot of which was Alexey Semenkov, and the second was Abdusamat Taymetov. The crew was supposed to pick up the act of surrender in Berlin and deliver it to Moscow.

“I kept thinking, who and what kind of people are in the passenger compartment? - Abdusamat Taymetov recalled. — I asked permission from Alexander Ivanovich Semenkov:

- Comrade commander, may I go out and go to the rear trunk?

The commander allowed it. I gave him the helm, calmly stood up and went out into the passenger compartment.

When I entered the sleeping area, I saw a white old man with a white, trimmed mustache on the sofa in his underwear. A general salon passed by - people in military and civilian uniforms. Who looked at me, i.e. Whoever he looked at, nodded his head, said hello, and walked to the tail of the plane. Having opened the rear trunk door and making sure that everything was in order there, I closed the door and looked from the tail of the plane at the people sitting in the seats of the plane, for a while I thought deeply, what kind of people are they and where are we going to take them? Since there is no exact data on the landing site.”

Alexey Semenkov

The Wehrmacht High Command reported: “Since the middle of the night, weapons on all fronts have fallen silent. By order of the Grand Admiral, the Wehrmacht unconditionally laid down its arms. This ended almost six years of heroic struggle. The Wehrmacht surrendered with honor to superior forces."

In fact, the crowd flows down the street like a river. Streams from alleys flow into it. Everyone is heading to the center. Trucks with soldiers are trying to get there. The soldiers bend down and kiss those they can reach. They throw packs of Belomor into the back and hand out bottles.”

All the doors are open, there is a crowd in the corridor. They start the gramophone. The light goes out, turn it on via the battery. The gramophone plays a rumba, everyone dances, sings, kisses and hugs, looks into each other's eyes - have they really made it?

Moscow resident L.S. recalls. Surkova: “At three o’clock there was a knock on the door, like an earthquake.

“Get up, the war is over!”

The surrender of Germany to German troops had already been announced. The German command pointed out the need to speed up the retreat to the west in order to surrender to the Americans. A German officer arrived at the headquarters of Army Group Center. General Staff Colonel Mayer-Detring, who explained the “surrender order” to Scherner: “... continue the fight against Soviet troops, because only under this condition are numerous parts german army will be able to gain time to break through to the west.”

Meanwhile, tanks of the 10th Guards Ural regiment burst into Prague from the north-west volunteer corps E. E. Belova 4th Guards Tank Army. Following them, tankmen from the 9th Mechanized Corps of I.P. Sukhov of the 3rd Guards Tank Army entered Prague from the north.

Soviet generals take the floor at a banquet in Germany. “Everyone talked about what hurt their souls for all these difficult years", General Zhukov recalled.

“One thought, one dream did not leave us - when will we finally get to read the order for complete victory over Nazi Germany? — Levitan recalled. “And this dream came true... On May 9, 1945, I had the good fortune to read the act of unconditional surrender of Germany...”

Levitan reads out a message about Germany's surrender.

The toast is given by US Air Force Chief Carl Andrew Spaats.

The toast is said by Marshal of France Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny.

The toast is said by the Supreme Commander Royal Air Force Britain during World War II Arthur Tedder. According to Zhukov’s memoirs, Tedder expressed hope for strengthening relations between the countries of the anti-fascist coalition.

Zhukov reads out the act of surrender in Karlshorst. Next to Zhukov is Arthur Tedder.

01:30

Representatives of the Soviet and allied command gather for a banquet. The banquet was opened by Georgy Zhukov, who proposed a toast to the victory of the countries anti-Hitler coalition over Nazi Germany.

01:15

“They announced it to us on the radio, and then the political workers all went straight and announced it to everyone. It was a joyful feeling; we walked proudly through the streets of Berlin. Now we have reached Berlin, we are walking in the very center! - recalls infantryman Grigory Nikanorov, who met on May 9 in Berlin. “Everyone was happy, hugging, dancing. We found people who loved dancing; there was no accordion in our company, but in the first rifle company there was a button accordion, and he played the button accordion well. And as soon as he starts playing the button accordion, a circle immediately forms, dancers are there, tap dancing. At lunchtime everyone shouts: “Sergeant major, where is our front-line 100 grams?” He says: “It will be, it will be.” But they didn’t give us lunch, but they gave us dinner.”

The surrender takes effect.

On behalf of the Soviet Supreme High Command, Georgy Zhukov cordially congratulated all those present on the long-awaited victory. “An unimaginable noise arose in the hall,” Zhukov recalled. “Everyone congratulated each other and shook hands. Many had tears of joy in their eyes. I was surrounded by my fighting friends - V.D. Sokolovsky, M.S. Malinin, K.F. Telegin, N.A. Antipenko, V.Ya. Kolpakchi, V.I. Kuznetsov, S.I. Bogdanov, N.E. Berzarin, F.E. Bokov, P.A. Belov, A.V. Gorbatov and others.

— Dear friends“,” I said to my comrades in arms, “you and I have had a great honor.” In the final battle, we were given the trust of the people, the party and the government to lead the valiant Soviet troops in the assault on Berlin. The Soviet troops, including you, who led the troops in the battles for Berlin, honored this trust with honor. It's a pity that many of us are not among us. How they would rejoice at the long-awaited victory, for which they gave their lives without flinching. Remembering close friends and comrades who did not live to see this have a joyful day“These people, accustomed to looking death in the face without the slightest fear, no matter how hard they tried, could not hold back their tears.”

The meeting at which the document was signed is closed.

“This signing of surrender took place after twelve. After the delegation that signed was brought out, Keitel was taken out, a completely different atmosphere began, congratulations. We were immediately asked to leave so as not to interfere. So, what happened next in this room, I don’t know. We left in order to prepare material for sending to Moscow,” recalls front-line chronicler Boris Sokolov.

The final act of complete and unconditional surrender of Germany was signed.

Text of the act of surrender in English

The Wehrmacht High Command said: “On May 9, 1945, in all military theaters, in all units of the Wehrmacht and in all armed organizations and individuals, hostility towards all former enemies ceases. From May 9, 1945 onwards, all radio links of all Wehrmacht units must operate openly.”

All those present turned their heads to the door, from where those who would now boastfully declare to the whole world about their ability to defeat France and England with lightning speed and crush the Soviet Union no later than in one and a half to two months would appear.”

Zhukov wrote:

“We, representatives of the Supreme High Command of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Supreme Command allied forces, authorized by the governments of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition to accept the unconditional surrender of Germany from the German military command. Invite representatives of the German high command to the hall."

In the hall, behind long tables covered with green cloth, were the generals of the Red Army, whose troops in the shortest possible time defeated the defenses of Berlin and forced the enemy to lay down their arms. Numerous Soviet and foreign journalists and photo reporters were also present here.

General photo of the Soviet delegation during the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of all German Armed Forces

00:00

“At exactly 24 o’clock we entered the hall,” recalled Soviet commander Georgy Zhukov. - Everyone sat down at the table. He stood near the wall on which were attached national flags Soviet Union, USA, England, France."

Good night, dear readers! 71 years ago, on May 9, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed. The science department of Gazeta.Ru, during a historical online broadcast, talks about the events of the night of May 9, 1945 - the night when the Great Patriotic War ended.

On May 9, Russia celebrates a national holiday - Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, in which the Soviet people fought for the freedom and independence of their Motherland against Nazi Germany and its allies. The Great Patriotic War was the most important and decisive part of the Second World War of 1939-1945.

The Great Patriotic War began at dawn on June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Romania, Italy took her side, and a few days later Hungary, Slovakia and Finland.

(Military encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing House. Moscow. in 8 volumes - 2004. ISBN 5 - 203 01875 - 8)

The war lasted almost four years and became the largest armed conflict in human history. On a huge front stretching from the Barents to the Black Sea, from 8 to 12.8 million people fought on both sides at different periods, from 5.7 to 20 thousand tanks and assault guns, from 84 to 163 thousand guns and mortars were used, from 6.5 to 18.8 thousand aircraft. Such a huge scope of military operations and concentration of such large mass military equipment the history of wars was not yet known.

The act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany was signed in the suburbs of Berlin on May 8 at 22:43 Central European time (Moscow time on May 9 at 0:43). It is because of this time difference that the Day of the End of World War II is celebrated on May 8 in Europe, and on May 9 in the Soviet Union.

And only in 1965, in the year of the twentieth anniversary of the victory of the Soviet troops, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, May 9 was again declared a non-working day. The holiday was given an exclusively solemn status, and a special anniversary medal was established. On May 9, 1965, a military parade was held on Red Square in Moscow, and the Victory Banner was carried in front of the troops.

Since then, Victory Day has always been celebrated very solemnly in the USSR, and holding military parades on May 9 has become a tradition. Streets and squares were decorated with flags and banners. At 7 pm a minute of silence was declared in memory of the victims. Mass meetings of veterans in the center of Moscow have become traditional.

On May 9, 1991, the last parade of the USSR era took place, and no parades were held until 1995. In 1995, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, a military parade was held in Moscow on Kutuzovsky Prospekt at Poklonnaya Gora. Samples of military equipment were demonstrated there, and columns of veterans marched across Red Square.

Since 1996, the tradition of holding military parades on main square country was enshrined in the law “On the perpetuation of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” According to it, parades should take place not only in Moscow, but also in hero cities, and in cities where the headquarters of military districts and fleets are located. The participation of military equipment is not stipulated in the law.

Since then, parades have been held annually. On Victory Day, veterans' meetings, ceremonial events and concerts are held. To monuments of military glory, memorials, mass graves Wreaths and flowers are laid, guards of honor are displayed. Memorial services are held in churches and temples in Russia.

Every year on this day in the hero cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Novorossiysk, Tula, Smolensk and Murmansk, as well as in the cities of Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Chita, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Severomorsk and A festive artillery salute is performed in Sevastopol. The first fireworks on the occasion of Victory Day were fired in Moscow on May 9, 1945, with 30 salvos from a thousand guns.

Since 2005, the patriotic event "St. George's Ribbon" has been held with the goal of returning and instilling the value of the holiday to the younger generation. On the eve of Victory Day, everyone can tie it on their hand, bag or car antenna." St. George's ribbon"in memory of the heroic past of the USSR, as a symbol of military valor, Victory, military glory and recognition of the merits of front-line soldiers.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, - to the Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time to the Supreme Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

2. The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German commanders of land, sea and air force and all the forces under German command, cease hostilities at 23-01 hours Central European Time on May 8, 1945, remain in their places where they are at this time and completely disarm, handing over all their weapons and military equipment to local Allied commanders or officers assigned representatives of the Allied High Command, not to destroy or cause any damage to steamships, ships and aircraft, their engines, hulls and equipment, as well as vehicles, weapons, apparatus and all military-technical means of warfare in general.

3. The German High Command will immediately assign the appropriate commanders and ensure that all further orders issued by the Supreme Command of the Red Army and the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces are carried out.

4. This act shall not constitute an obstacle to its replacement by another general instrument of surrender concluded by or on behalf of the United Nations, applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.

5. In the event that the German High Command or any armed forces under its command do not act in accordance with this instrument of surrender, the High Command of the Red Army, as well as the High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, will take such punitive measures as or other actions they deem necessary.

6.This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German languages. Only Russian and English lyrics are authentic.

On behalf of the German High Command: Keitel, Friedenburg, Stumpf

In the presence of:

By authority

Supreme High Command of the Red Army

Marshal of the Soviet Union

G. ZHUKOVA

By authority

Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces

Air Chief Marshal

The following were also present at the signing as witnesses:

US Strategic Air Forces Commander General

Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, General

DELATRE de TASSIGNY

Foreign policy of the Soviet Union during the period Patriotic War. T. III. M., 1947.

STALIN'S ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE, May 9, 1945

Comrades! Compatriots and compatriots!

The great day of victory over Germany has arrived. Nazi Germany, brought to its knees by the Red Army and the troops of our allies, admitted itself defeated and declared unconditional surrender.

On May 7, a preliminary protocol of surrender was signed in the city of Reims. On May 8, representatives of the German High Command, in the presence of representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces and the Supreme Command of the Soviet Forces, signed the final act of surrender in Berlin, the execution of which began at 24 hours of May 8.

Knowing the wolfish behavior of the German bosses, who consider treaties and agreements to be empty pieces of paper, we have no right to take their word for it. However, this morning, German troops, in pursuance of the act of surrender, began to lay down their arms en masse and surrender to our troops. This is no longer an empty piece of paper. This is the actual surrender of the German armed forces. True, one group of German troops in the Czechoslovakia region is still evading surrender. But I hope that the Red Army will be able to bring her to her senses.

Now we can with with good reason declare that the historical day of the final defeat of Germany has arrived, the day of the great victory of our people over German imperialism.

The great sacrifices we made in the name of freedom and independence of our Motherland, the innumerable hardships and suffering experienced by our people during the war, the intense work in the rear and at the front, given to the altar of the Fatherland, were not in vain and were crowned with complete victory over the enemy. Age-old struggle Slavic peoples for its existence and its independence ended in victory over the German invaders and German tyranny.

From now on, the great banner of freedom of the peoples of the world and between peoples will develop over Europe.

Three years ago, Hitler publicly declared that his tasks included the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the separation from it of the Caucasus, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states and other regions. He bluntly stated: “We will destroy Russia so that it can never rise again.” This was three years ago. But Hitler’s extravagant ideas were not destined to come true - the course of the war scattered them into dust. In fact, what happened was exactly the opposite of what the Nazis were raving about. Germany is completely defeated. German troops capitulate. The Soviet Union is celebrating victory, although it has no intention of either dismembering or destroying Germany.

Comrades! The Great Patriotic War ended with our complete victory. The period of war in Europe is over. A period of peaceful development began.

Happy victory to you, my dear compatriots and compatriots!

Glory to our heroic Red Army, which defended the independence of our Motherland and won victory over the enemy!

Glory to our great people, the victorious people!

Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in battles with the enemy and gave their lives for the freedom and happiness of our people!

I. About the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. M., 1947.

May

History of the holiday May 9, Victory Day

Artichoke

Victory Day on May 9 is a holiday that began to be celebrated as the day of the end of the terrible, immeasurably brutal war, which lasted 1418 days and nights.

The history of Victory Day as a national holiday began on May 8, 1945 by decision of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR.

First Victory Day May 9

The path to victory was a long ordeal. She was won by courage, fighting skill and heroism Soviet soldiers on the battlefields, the selfless struggle of partisans and underground fighters behind the front line, everyday labor feat home front workers, by the combined efforts of the anti-Hitler coalition and the anti-fascist movement.

May 9, 1945, when in the suburbs of Berlin the chief of staff supreme command Field Marshal W. Keitel from the Wehrmacht, Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the USSR Georgy Zhukov from the Red Army and British Air Marshal A. Tedder from the Allies signed an act of unconditional and complete surrender of the Wehrmacht.

Let us recall that Berlin was taken on May 2, but German troops offered fierce resistance to the Red Army for more than a week before the fascist command, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, finally decided to surrender.

Soon, the solemn voice of Yuri Levitan sounded from radios across the country: “On May 8, 1945, in Berlin, representatives of the German High Command signed an act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces. The Great Patriotic War, waged by the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders, has been victoriously completed.

Germany is completely destroyed. Comrades, Red Army soldiers, Red Navy men, sergeants, foremen, army and navy officers, generals, admirals and marshals, I congratulate you on the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War. Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in battles for the freedom and independence of our Motherland!”

By order of I. Stalin, a grandiose salute of a thousand guns was given on this day in Moscow. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in commemoration of the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders and the historical victories of the Red Army. May 9 was declared Victory Day.

However, May 9th was a public holiday for only three years. In 1948, it was ordered to forget about the war and devote all efforts to restoring the national economy destroyed by the war.

And only in 1965, already during the Brezhnev era, the holiday was again given its due. May 9 became a day off again, Parades, large-scale fireworks in all cities - Heroes and honoring of veterans - resumed.

Victory Day abroad

Abroad, Victory Day is celebrated not on May 9, but on May 8. This is due to the fact that the act of surrender was signed according to Central European time on May 8, 1945 at 22:43. When in Moscow, with its two-hour time difference, May 9 had already arrived.

First Victory Parade

The capital of the Third Reich fell on the 17th day of the assault. On May 2 at 15:00 the remnants of the German garrison capitulated.

On May 4, 1945, a military parade of Soviet troops of the Berlin garrison took place, moving in a solemn march on the square near the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. Soldiers and officers walked past the ruins of houses turned by the Nazis into strongholds.

They marched in the same tunics in which they stormed the German capital. The streets of the city were still smoking from the fires; on the outskirts of the city, fascists who had not yet laid down their arms were shooting.

The parade was hosted by the military commandant of Berlin, General N. E. Berzarin.

Soon after declaring May 9, 1945 as Victory Day, J.V. Stalin expressed the thought: “Shouldn’t we restore the good old tradition of holding a parade of the victorious army?” The preparation of such a parade was entrusted to the General Staff.

On May 24, after a ceremonial reception in the Kremlin for the top military leadership, the plan, calculations and scheme of the parade were reported to Stalin. The preparation period was set for 1 month, that is, the date of the Victory Parade was set for June 24.

Preparing for the Parade turned out to be quite troublesome. In a short period of time, it was necessary to sew more than 10 thousand sets of ceremonial uniforms. Almost all sewing factories in Moscow prepared ceremonial uniforms for soldiers. Numerous workshops and ateliers carried out custom tailoring for officers and generals.

To participate in the Victory Parade, it was necessary to go through a strict selection: not only feats and merits were taken into account, but also the appearance corresponding to the appearance of the victorious warrior, and that he be at least 170 cm tall. It is not for nothing that in the newsreels all the participants in the parade are simply handsome, especially pilots. Going to Moscow, the lucky ones did not yet know that they would have to practice drill for 10 hours a day for three and a half minutes of flawless march along Red Square.

It was decided to deliver the Victory Banner, hoisted over the Reichstag, to Moscow with special military honors. On the morning of June 20, at the airfield in Berlin, the banner was solemnly presented to the Heroes of the Soviet Union, Senior Sergeant Syanov, junior sergeant Kantaria, Sergeant Egorov, Captains Samsonov and Neustroev.

The Victory Banner, brought to Moscow on June 20, 1945, was to be carried across Red Square. And the crew of the flag bearers was specially trained. Keeper of the Banner in the Museum Soviet Army A. Dementyev argued: those who hoisted him over the Reichstag and sent him to Moscow as a standard bearer, Neustroyev and his assistants Egorov, Kantaria and Berest, were extremely unsuccessful at the rehearsal - they had no time for drill training in the war. The same Neustroev, at the age of 22, had five wounds, his legs were damaged. Appointing other standard bearers is absurd and too late.

Zhukov decided not to take out the Banner. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, there was no Banner at the Victory Parade. The first time the Banner was carried out at the parade was in 1965.

On June 24, the combined front regiments, led by the front commanders and all army commanders, were built on Red Square. The order of the ceremonial march was determined by the sequence of the location of the fronts - from the Northern Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea: Karelian, Leningrad, 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd, 1st Belorussian, 1st, 4th, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts. Next were the combined regiment of the Navy and the parade squads of the Moscow garrison troops. As part of the 1st regiment Belorussian Front Representatives of the Polish Army marched in a special column.

The parade also included “boxes” of the Commissariat of Defense (1), military academies (8), military and Suvorov schools(4), Moscow garrison (1), cavalry brigade (1), artillery, motorized, airborne and tank units and subunits (by special calculation).

As well as a combined military orchestra of 1,400 people.

The duration of the parade is 2 hours 09 minutes. 10 sec.

In total, 24 marshals, 249 generals, 2,536 officers, 31,116 privates and sergeants took part in the parade.

More than 1,850 pieces of military equipment passed through Red Square.

In honor of the Victory Parade on Execution Place A 26-meter “Fountain of Winners” was erected on Red Square. It was built specifically for the Victory Parade and was then removed from Red Square.

At 9:45 a.m., members of the government and the Politburo of the Party Central Committee rose to the podium of the Mausoleum.

And so the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower began to chime the hours with a unique melodic ringing. Before the sound of the tenth blow had time to fly over the square, it was followed by the chanting “Smir-no-o-o!”

The commander of the parade, Konstantin Rokossovsky, on a black horse, rushes towards Georgy Zhukov, who rode out of the Spassky Gate on an almost white horse. Red Square froze. The clatter of hooves can be clearly heard, followed by a clear report from the Parade Commander. Last words Rokossovsky are drowned in the solemn sounds of the combined orchestra, uniting 1,400 musicians.

Zhukov, accompanied by Rokossovsky, tours the troops lined up for the Parade and congratulates the soldiers, officers and generals on the Victory.

Zhukov, on behalf of and on behalf of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Soviet government, congratulated the Soviet soldiers and all the people on the Great Victory over Nazi Germany.

After the performance of the anthem of the Soviet Union, an artillery salute and three soldiers' "hurray", the parade was opened by forty young drummers - students of the Moscow Military Music School. Behind them, to the sounds of a military orchestra, the combined regiments of the fronts marched in a solemn march (a special march was performed for each regiment).

The parade lasted two hours. The rain was pouring down like buckets. But the thousands of people who crowded Red Square did not seem to notice him. However, the passage of columns of workers was canceled due to bad weather. By evening the rain stopped, and celebration reigned on the streets of Moscow again. High in the sky, scarlet banners floated in the rays of powerful searchlights, and the sparkling Order of Victory floated majestically. Orchestras thundered in the squares and artists performed. The people rejoiced.

Victory Parade of the Allied Forces in Berlin on September 7, 1945

After the significant Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945, the Soviet leadership invited the Americans, British and French to hold a parade of troops in honor of the victory over Nazi Germany in Berlin itself. After some time, their positive response was received.

It was decided to hold a parade of Soviet and Allied troops in September 1945 in the area of the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate, where the final battles during the capture of Berlin took place on May 1-2, 1945. . They decided to coincide with the end of the war in the Pacific. According to the agreement, the parade of troops was to be hosted by the commanders-in-chief of the troops of the Soviet Union, the USA, England and France.

But at the last moment, the Allied attaches informed the Kremlin that, for some reasons, the commanders-in-chief of England, France and the United States would not be able to participate in this parade, and instead, high-ranking military generals would arrive in Berlin.

In his famous book of memories of the war of 1941 in 1945. Marshal G. Zhukov writes: “...I immediately called I.V. Stalin. After listening to my report, he said: “They want to belittle the importance of the Victory Parade in Berlin... Host the parade yourself, especially since we have more rights to do so than they do.”

Therefore, Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov hosted the parade, and the English General Nares commanded it. On the podium, in addition to Zhukov, were representatives of the commanders-in-chief of the occupation forces of the USA, Great Britain, France, as well as Soviet and foreign generals.

IN modern Ukraine in 2015, this holiday was renamed the Day of Victory over Nazism in the Second World War of 1939-1945. This was done to honor the memory of all the victims of these terrible years and to emphasize the world-historical significance of Victory Day.

Happy Great Victory Day!

On May 8, 1945, even before signing the act of surrender, J.V. Stalin signed a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declaring May 9 Victory Day.
On May 8, 1945 at 22:43 Central European time (May 9 at 00:43 Moscow time) in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of Military Surrender of the German Armed Forces was signed. On behalf of the German Supreme High Command, the act was signed by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht, Field Marshal General W. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief naval forces Admiral of the Fleet von Friedeburg, Colonel General of Aviation G. Yu. Stumpf. The Soviet Union was represented by the Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, the allies - chief marshal British Aviation A. Tedder. The commander of the US Strategic Air Forces, General K. Spaats, and the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, General J. M. Delattre de Tassigny, were present as witnesses.
“On the night of May 9, 1945, Muscovites did not sleep. At 2 a.m. the radio announced that an important message would be broadcast. At 2:10 a.m. Dr. Yuri Levitan read the Act of Military Surrender of Nazi Germany and the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declaring May 9 a Day of National Celebration - Victory Day. People ran out of their houses... joyfully congratulating each other on the long-awaited victory. Banners appeared. There were more and more people, and everyone moved to Red Square. A spontaneous demonstration began. Joyful faces, songs, dancing to the accordion. In the evening there was a fireworks display: thirty salvos from a thousand guns in honor great Victory"(war correspondent Alexander Ustinov). On that day, the Pravda newspaper wrote: “The ninth of May! Will never forget this day soviet man. How he will not forget June 22, 1941. Between these dates, a century passed. And as happens in folk epic, during this time the Soviet man grew fabulously. He grew up so that a Red Army soldier standing by a waving banner in Berlin is visible to the whole world. We didn't wait for June twenty-second. But we longed for the day to come the last blow will knock down the black monster that insulted life. And we dealt this blow... My soul is incredibly joyful today. And the night sky over Moscow seems to radiate a reflection of the joy that is full Soviet land. We witnessed events about which volumes could be written. But today we fit them all into one word: victory!..”
On June 24, 1945, the first Victory Parade took place on Red Square in Moscow. The parade was hosted by Marshal G.K. Zhukov, the parade was commanded by Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky. Regiments of the Belorussian, Leningrad, Karelian, Ukrainian fronts, as well as a consolidated regiment Navy. The columns were headed by the commanders of these regiments. Heroes of the Soviet Union carried flags and banners of units that distinguished themselves in the war. At the end of the parade, 200 soldiers were carried bowed to the ground fascist banners and threw them onto a special platform at the foot of the Lenin Mausoleum.
From 1948 to 1964, May 9 was a regular working day. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree declaring May 9 a non-working holiday; On Red Square in Moscow, for the first time since the end of the war, a parade of troops and military equipment of the Moscow garrison was held
Until 1995, parades on Red Square on Victory Day were held only in anniversary years - in 1965, 1985 and 1990. Then they began to be held annually; Since 2008, military equipment has again begun to participate in parades.