“Moscow and Leningrad are rejoicing”: how Victory Day was celebrated on May 9, 1945.
On the night of May 9, 1945, residents of Moscow, Leningrad and hundreds of other Soviet cities did not sleep – at 2 hours 10 minutes Yuri Levitan read out the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany on the radio. We have prepared a selection of articles from Moscow and Leningrad newspapers about the first celebration of Victory Day.
“At six o’clock in the evening after the war”
““At six o’clock in the evening after the war” is the name of the film, the characters of which agree to meet in Moscow on the Stone Bridge, exactly at six in the evening after the war.
And here on the calendar page is May 9 – Victory Day. On the clock of the Spasskaya Tower, the hands show 10 minutes to 6. The stone bridge over the Moscow River flashes like a still from a familiar movie. Silence. Seagulls fly over the water. A six-oar boat rushes along, barely touching the wave. Just like in previous years. Soldiers and civilians, boys and girls, no, no, are rushing to the bridge, and even glancing at their watches.
6 pm. We have the opportunity to firmly shake hands with captain Oleg Razumov. The captain hurried here from distant places. Only two days ago a train brought him from near Berlin. Captain Razumov recently stormed bridges over the Spree, and now he stands on the Stone Bridge in Moscow and is noticeably worried. And here is Marina Gromova, a student at the Second Moscow Medical Institute. So, dreams have come true.
Well, Oleg has changed over the years! On his chest he has the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree. At the age of 19, Razumov received the rank of captain and command of a motorized battalion. He fought with his battalion near Sandomierz, near Kielce and near Berlin itself.
Marina Gromova, his old schoolmate in the city of Privolzhsk, will soon graduate from medical school and become a Soviet doctor.
That evening, on the Stone Bridge in Moscow, many wonderful meetings took place that you will never forget for the rest of your life.
And how many more such meetings are ahead! Joyful, unforgettable.
The lights come on over the Moscow River, reflecting in the water with thousands of carnival sparkles. Colored rays of searchlights intersect in the Moscow sky.
The first evening of the world rises in the sparkle of fireworks over festive Moscow.
The first evening after the war”
(“Komsomolskaya Pravda”, May 10, 1945)
“Rejoicing Leningrad”
“Moscow radio notified the country about the great victory.
And as if bright lightning sparkled in the predawn sky of Leningrad, as if the approaching morning of the great day had become brighter. Leningrad, a handsome man and a hero on the royal Neva, who has won worldwide love and admiration, seemed to be addressing his inhabitants: the defeated enemy laid down his arms. Celebrate your legendary resilience and the noble spirit with which you fought and won. Come out for the holiday!
Leningraders came out to celebrate. It was just daytime, but they could not sit at home; joy called them to the open spaces of avenues and squares.
A group of Red Navy men was hastily walking from the Rostral Columns to the Palace Bridge, and a girl was running towards them. About ten paces from the sailors, she tore the white beret off her head and shouted:
– Happy victory, sailors!
– With victory! – the Red Navy men answered…”
“Moscow celebrates victory”
“Victory Day rose over the capital at an hour when the ruby stars of the Kremlin were still sparkling in the night sky. As soon as the first bars of the melodic chime of the call signs of radio stations sounded, millions of Muscovites, holding their breath, clung to the loudspeakers. Many, many rushed to Red Square, to the Kremlin and there, waiting for the great news, they stood at Lenin’s mausoleum.
The Victory Day in Moscow began the minute the radio announced that Nazi Germany had capitulated unconditionally and to the end. Strangers hugged each other. Brief, excited words sounded in the air… It is difficult to say whether Moscow slept that night. So rapid was the transition from night to morning, to the morning of Victory…”
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
