
8 May marked the 70th anniversary of the surrender of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich in Berlin in 1945 and the defeat of Nazi Germany in Europe – a date recognized throughout the world with the photograph of the flag of the Soviet Red Army flying over the Reichstag, the German Parliament. To this day, that flag is recognized as the Victory Banner. It is called Victory in Europe Day and other countries of the former Soviet Union where it marks the victory of the Great Patriotic War. It marked the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, as well as the founding of the United Nations.
More than 80 countries and regions and about two billion people in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania were engulfed in the flames of war and suffered grave disasters. The defeat of fascism in Europe was a historic event with a permanent significance not only for the Soviet Union and Europe but for all peoples, who made the greatest contribution to its defeat. Imperialists and fascists can be stopped; their weapons can be silenced; freedom, liberation and the very right-to-be can be won.
Activities to commemorate the occasion were held in major Canadian cities including parades of World War II veterans from the former USSR together with the veterans from Allied countries, meetings, banquets, and presentations. As part of the international commemorations, the editors of TML Weekly published an informative special online supplement on the significance of the victory of the peoples of the world and related events. As one commentary underlines gravely: “To forget the past means to betray; to tamper with history means the start of following the same disastrous road.” Continue reading →