To celebrate the 78th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s historic victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, which is celebrated on May 9th in Russia, the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Kolkata—Gorky Sadan—is organising a series of cultural events from May 4th to May 10th.
A commemorative photo and art exhibition was inaugurated on Thursday, May 4th, at 5.30 pm by Alexey Idamkin, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Kolkata. Apart from Idamkin, Anjan Bera, the general secretary of the All-India Peace and Solidarity Organisation’s West Bengal chapter, and Sergey Sushin, the vice-consul and director of the Gorky Sadan, were among the guest speakers.
In his opening speech, Sushin said that it’s difficult to find a person in Russia whose life was not touched by the terrible war that claimed the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians. “Victory Day on May 9th is celebrated in many cities in Russia”, he informed, saying the main event takes place in Moscow, where a parade takes place and floral tributes are offered at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Consul General Idamkin said, “On May 9th 1945 our people won a victory over barbarism and violence.” He said, “During the war, our fathers and grandfathers overcame severe hardships and trials. On the frontline of this destructive war, millions of valiant sons of Russia displayed unprecedented heroism.”
He hailed the courage of the Soviet soldiers and civilians during the war and said they paved the way to a peaceful future for humanity. He highlighted that the main thrust of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany was against the former Soviet Union and in response, the Soviet Red Army fought with valour and “the mighty military machine of the fascists was defeated”.
Bera spoke at length about how the war changed the course of history and Soviet Union’s victory against Nazi Germany opened the doorways to anti-colonial upsurge in Asia-Africa-Latin America. He underscored the fact that two-thirds of the victims of the second world war were Soviet people, and it was the Soviet Union, which played a pivotal role in defeating fascism.
On behalf of the Gorky Sadan, Goutam Ghosh told the audience that the peril of fascism still persists and therefore, the consciousness of Victory Day is imperative even to this day.
A play named “Operation Barbarossa” was staged in Gorky Sadan by a theatre group from Howrah named Srijan. The play highlighted how war and violence affect the conscience of the soldier, who kill each other on the battlefield.
An exhibition of several rare historical photographs, books, posters, and memorabilia is taking place at Gorky Sadan between 3pm to 5.30pm daily, while there will be a film show at 5.30pm. The photographs showcase the hours of pain, suffering, struggles and victory in the lives of the Soviet soldiers and common people during the war that changed the course of history.
On May 5th, the Russian war film “Paniflov’s 28 Men”, directed by Kim Druzhinin and Andrey Shalopa will be screened. On May 8th, “T-34”, directed by Aleksey Sidorov will be screened, and on May 10th, “Battle for Sevastopol”, directed by Sergey Mokritskly will be screened.
