'Victory Day 2007 (Russian: День Победы, Den' Pobedy; Ukrainian: День Перемоги, Den' Peremohy; Belarusian: Дзень Перамогі, Dzień Pieramohi)

'Victory Day (Russian: День Победы, Den' Pobedy; Ukrainian: День Перемоги, Den' Peremohy; Belarusian: Дзень Перамогі, Dzień Pieramohi; Kazakh: Жеңіс Күні, Jeñis Küni; Lithuanian: Pergalės diena; Moldavian: (Cyrillic) Зиуа Викторией, Ziua Victoriei; Latvian: Uzvaras Diena; Estonian: Võidupäev; Tatar Cyrillic: Җиңү көне, Latin: Ciñü köne) marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War commonly referred to in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War. This capitulation was signed late in the evening on May 8, 1945 (May 9 in the Moscow time zone), following the original capitulation Germany signed earlier to the joint Allied forces. The Soviet government announced the victory early on May 9 after the signing ceremony in Berlin.

The May 9 Victory Day is celebrated in most of the successor states to the Soviet Union, especially in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.'

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For N. and her family; and in memory of her grandmother and uncle killed by the Nazis in a village outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine, and at the Battle of Kursk.



























'Soviet poster based on the famous photo of the Soviet flag being raised over the German Reichstag in 1945. The caption reads: "And the saved world remembers", a line from a Soviet post-war song about two young men who did not return from the war, and about how life in their home city has to go on without them.'

Photo and caption credit: Public domain in Russia via Wikipedia Commons. [It was published in the Soviet Union before January 1st, 1954.] With thanks.