May 9 marks the anniversary of the victory of the
Red Army of the USSR over the forces of German Fascism. Over
20 million Soviet soldiers and citizens died in the fight to liberate
the world from Nazi oppression.The Marxists Internet Archive features a Great Patriotic War History Archive featuring important documents related to the struggle against fascism, from the origins of the war and Operation Barbarossa to the Fall of Berlin and beyond.
In observance of this important anniversary, we're presenting two items:
First, a new photo (see right) has been added to our Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya Archive. This is a close-up/detail view of Zoya from her June 1941 class portrait. This photo was provided to us by our friend Nina Lebed. View this and many, many other pictures in our extensive image galleries.
Also, we're presenting the full annotated text of J.V. Stalin's Victory Address to the Soviet People from May 9, 1945. This text -- as well as a number of other annotated works -- is included in the book Red Youth: Young Heroes of the Great Patriotic War which is available through out publishing venture, Erythrós Press and Media.
May 9 graphic by Clara Esse.
STALIN’S VICTORY ADDRESS
TO THE SOVIET PEOPLE
by J.V. Stalin
(May 9, 1945)
After four years of savage fighting and the death of over 20,000,000 Soviet soldiers and civilians, German fascism suffered its final defeat with the Fall of Berlin. The Red Army and partisan fighters of the Soviet Union had beaten back the Nazi invaders all the way to the gates of Germany’s capital city where Hitler and the remnants of his fascist hordes mounted a desperate – and ultimately futile – attempt to escape complete annihilation. by J.V. Stalin
(May 9, 1945)
Following two weeks of intense combat in and around of the heart of Berlin, the Red Army finally stormed the Reichstag on April 30, 1945. On May 1, 1945, the Red Army captured the building, occupying the very seat of Germany’s fascist government. On the roof of the Reichstag, Soviet soldiers Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantariya hoisted the Victory Banner in triumph. Documented on film by Yevgeny Khaldei, this moment would become an iconic symbol of the Soviet victory over fascism.
On May 8, 1945 in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, Marshal Georgy Zhukov received a written notice of Germany’s surrender, signed by representatives of the defeated German army.
At 2000 hours on May 9, 1945, Marshal Joseph V. Stalin addressed the Soviet people by radio to share news of the Nazi defeat.
* * *
Comrades! Fellow countrymen and countrywomen!
The great day of victory over Germany has arrived. Fascist Germany, forced to her knees by the Red Army and the troops of our Allies, has admitted defeat and has announced her unconditional surrender.
On May 7 a preliminary act of surrender was signed in Rheims.(1) On May 8, in Berlin, representatives of the German High Command, in the presence of representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allied troops and of the Supreme Command of the Soviet troops, signed the final act of surrender, which came into effect at 24 hours on May 8.
Knowing the wolfish habits of the German rulers who regard treaties and agreements as scraps of paper, we have no grounds for accepting their word. However, this morning, the German troops, in conformity with the act of surrender, began en masse to lay down their arms and surrender to our troops. This is not a scrap of paper. It is the actual capitulation of the armed forces of Germany. True, one group of German troops in the region of Czechoslovakia(2) still refuses to surrender, but I hope the Red Army will succeed in bringing it to its senses. We now have full grounds for saying that the historic day of the final defeat of Germany, the day of our people's great victory over German imperialism, has arrived.
The great sacrifices we have made for the freedom and independence of our country, the incalculable privation and suffering our people have endured during the war, our intense labors in the rear and at the front, laid at the altar of our motherland, have not been in vain; they have been crowned by complete victory over the enemy. The age-long struggle of the Slavonic peoples(3) for their existence and independence has ended in victory over the German aggressors and German tyranny.
Henceforth, the great banner of the freedom of the peoples and peace between the peoples will fly over Europe.
Three years ago Hitler publicly stated that his task included the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the severance from it of the Caucasus, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, the Baltic and other regions. He definitely said: "We shall destroy Russia so that she shall never be able to rise again." This was three years ago. But Hitler's insane ideas were fated to remain unrealized – the course of the war scattered them to the winds like dust. Actually, the very opposite of what the Hitlerites dreamed of in their delirium occurred. Germany is utterly defeated. The German troops are surrendering. The Soviet Union is triumphant, although it has no intention of either dismembering or destroying Germany.
Comrades! Our Great Patriotic War has terminated in our complete victory. The period of war in Europe has closed. A period of peaceful development has been ushered in.
Congratulations on our victory, my dear fellow countrymen and countrywomen!
Glory to our heroic Red Army, which upheld the independence of our country and achieved victory over the enemy!
Glory to our great people, the victor people!
Eternal glory to the heroes who fell fighting the enemy and who gave their lives for the freedom and happiness of our people!
1. A city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of northern France. General Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969), Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, formally received the complete and unconditional surrender of the German army at a schoolhouse in Rheims on May 8, 1945 at 0241 hours Central European Time (CET). The surrender took effect at effect at 2301 hours CET on May 8, 1945.
2. The Red Army defeated all resistance in Czechoslovakia by May 13, 1945.
3. Slavs.
