Victory Day. День Победы!
May 9th is one of the most important holidays in Russia. This day celebrates all those who fought, died, survived, suffered during World War II and continued to live despite unbearable losses.
WWII:
•For Soviet Union it began on June 22, 1941.
•For Americans, World War II began on December 7, 1941.
•But war had been going on for years elsewhere. For the Chinese, war began in 1931, when Japan invaded northeastern China, setting up a Japanese state called Manchukuo. By 1938 Japan occupied much of China and had taken Nanking, longtime capital of China, where Japanese troops killed more than 42,000 civilians.
• For Europeans, war began in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland.
• The war in Europe ended in May 1945 and in the Pacific in August 1945.
Soviet Union lost over 26 million people during the war and paid the highest price for the peace. Almost every family in the country was impacted.
The pictures below represent only a few events during the war.
