On May 9th, the delegation of the World Anti-imperialist Platform (the Platform) visited Victory Park, Poklonnaya Hill in Russia on the Victory Day.
With Red Square off-limits by the Russian authorities, the Russian people had gathered in the hill to celebrate the holiday.
Flags with the word “Victory” (Музей) were fluttering on the hill. The flags were a mix of red and orange or red and black. The red symbolizes the Soviet period and the other colors,in fact,represent the Imperial Russia. One of delegations criticized the Russian authorities for artificially mixing Soviet and Imperial Russian symbols to obscure the image of Soviet socialism.
The delegation visited the Great Patriotic War Memorial in front of the Monument to Victory.
The museum vividly conveyed the horrors of the war by combining modern technology with paintings that reflected the socialist realism art style. In particular, the major battles such as the Battle of Leningrad, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper River, and the Fall of Berlin were sensitively depicted through paintings.
At the end of the exhibition, portraits of Stalin and important generals were hung on the walls. Stalin’s portrait was the same size as the other generals’ and did not have his name written on it. The Great Patriotic War Memorial was built during Yeltsin’s rule, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This explains why there is only one portrait of Stalin on display, with no name.
We moved on to the open-air Tank Exhibition in Moscow. Tanks from World War II were on display, as well as tanks that were captured after the Ukrainian army was defeated. Tanks from 2022 and later were on display to emphasize the historical roots of the war in Ukraine.
On the 9th of May, a ceremony was held in Red Square. Russian President Putin said in his speech “Western elites of forgetting the decisive role played by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany, and of stoking conflicts across the world,” emphasizing that Russia “will not allow anyone to threaten us.”
The delegation visited Red Square on the 16th. In front of the Red Wall, the Eternal Flame was burning red in honor of the World War II dead who fought so valiantly against the fascists.
