 |
| Dermot Hudson and Andy Brooks honour the fallen |
by New Worker
correspondent
Russian
and British war veterans and members of London’s thriving Russian community
joined hundreds of Londoners in commemorating the victory of the Red Army over
Nazi Germany this week. Local dignitaries and the envoys from many of the
former Soviet republics gathered around the Soviet War Memorial in the shadow
of the Imperial War Museum on Tuesday for the annual ceremony, organised by the
Soviet Memorial Trust Fund, to mark the 72nd anniversary of the
Allied Victory over Fascism in 1945.
Whilst
hundreds of thousands of people packed Red Square for the massive parade for
the ‘March of the Immortals’ to salute those who fought and those that gave
their lives in the struggle to defeat the Nazis in the Second World War,
British veterans held their banners high in London as they marched to the war
memorial. The monument that was made in Russia depicts a semi-abstract figure
holding a bell that will forever remain silent in memory of those who died in
the conflict.
Communists and peace campaigners
,including CND veteran Bruce Kent and a New Communist Party delegation led by
NCP general secretary Andy Brooks, joined others in laying wreaths and floral
tributes at the memorial unveiled in 1999 as a lasting tribute to the Soviet
sacrifice.
Victory Day is a public holiday throughout
the Russian Federation and in many of the former Soviet republics, and at the
end of the ceremony the Russian ambassador, Alexander Yakovenko, invited
everyone to join him in a toast to victory at the nearby marquees where vodka,
wine and Russian food were waiting.
No comments:
Post a Comment