On the night of June 21-22, as part of the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, two significant events will be held in Moscow: “Line of Memory” on the Krymskaya Embankment and “Watch of Memory. Eternal Flame" in the Alexander Garden.
Campaign "Line of Memory"
The “Line of Memory” campaign will take place from June 21 to 22 on the Krymskaya embankment. An installation of 1,418 candles will be created on the embankment, each of which symbolizes one day of the Great Patriotic War.
On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began, which lasted 1,418 days. Every day of this terrible War is a symbol of mass heroism, courage and fortitude shown by the people of Russia in the fight against the Nazi invaders.
Cultural program Promotions:
- 19:00 - gathering of spectators;
- 20:00 — musical and dramatic performance “We will live”;
- 21:30 - official part. Ceremonial lighting of the first candle. The first candle is lit by a participant in the Great Patriotic War, the last - dedicated to the last Day of the War - by the young great-grandson of an honored participant in the Great Patriotic War;
- 22:00 - lighting of all Memory Line candles;
- 22:15–00:00 — concert and theater program.
Anyone can join the action and light a candle in memory of one of the important days of the war for their family. Keepers of the Fire will be present at the site to tell visitors about those difficult times. The candles will be kept alive by the Keepers of the Flame until midnight on June 23, meaning they will burn for more than a day.
Campaign “Memory Watch. Eternal flame"
The “Memory Watch” campaign, which will be held in Moscow for the 26th time this year, will begin on June 22 at 03:00. Boys and girls from youth associations, public organizations and patriotic clubs, together with veterans of the Great Patriotic War, will take part in the Action to remember the events of 1941, honor the memory of those who fell for their Motherland and lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The laying on will take place at a well-known time (thanks to the song to the words of Boris Kovynev and the music of the popular waltz by Jerzy Petersburg “The Blue Handkerchief”): “The twenty-second of June, exactly at 4 o’clock...”.
The site will have points with audio broadcasts of war songs and screens on which military chronicles will be shown. At four o'clock in the morning, the voice of Yuri Levitan will announce the beginning of the war. After laying flowers, participants will honor the memory of the victims with a minute of silence.
Today at 6 am my mother called. She said that the candle she lit at 3 in the morning had burned out. I couldn’t sleep because of the excitement. She said that she remembered a lot, some of which she managed to write down. She asked me to listen.
The following is the text verbatim...
June 22, 2017 Four o'clock in the morning. I lit a memory candle and placed it on the window. At this early hour, already back in 1941, fascist Germany, violating the treaty, interrupting the peaceful sleep of citizens, treacherously attacked my country. Tanks were walking along the ground, bombs were falling from the sky. The Great Patriotic War began. That night before the war, my father, originally from the Stavropol village of Severny, who served in the Far East, also slept peacefully in the barracks. In a dream, perhaps he saw his native village, mother, sister. He did not see his father in a dream, because... doesn’t remember him, because he, along with other villagers, was hacked to death in a field by whites in 1918 - there was a civil war. Was it red? - How red was it? He returned wounded from the First World War, he had a family and children. At the front, he dreamed of peace, of home, of land, but when he returned wounded, he fell into the millstones civil war and died at the age of 26, leaving behind a four-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son, my father.
The family, in the absence of a breadwinner, went through very difficult years, and in 1941 my father had to return from service. But the Great Patriotic War began, and he Far East was transferred to the front, was a signalman. During the battles near Stalingrad, he was seriously wounded, spent 11 months in the hospital, survived and from the hospital again went to the front, ending the war in Konigsberg (Kaliningrad), but only in the fall of 1945 he returned to his native village of Severnoye, where he had not been for 7 years. He did not like to remember the war, these memories were too painful, and his wound was making itself felt. The father died in 1980, when his grandson, whom he loved very much, was 5 years old. The war caught up with him, and he did not see how his grandson grew up, how he matured. When the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was celebrated, my son, his grandson, was in Volgograd, walking on the land that his grandfather defended, where his grandfather was seriously wounded and miraculously survived through his mother’s prayers. The son experienced an inexpressible feeling then, as if he himself had participated in those battles with his grandfather!
And my grandfather on my mother’s side was also called up to the front at the age of 45, was a nurse, saved the wounded, went through the entire war without being wounded and lived to be 95 years old! He remembered his front commander Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov with great love and warmth, and sang a song at feasts: “I’ll sing you a song about my service...” and cried from my memories.
Yesterday I watched the third episode of the film “Putin”. One of the dialogues between journalist Oliver Stone and our President was about relations between Russia and the United States. They showed NATO military bases located along the border of our country. What were these bases for? Allegedly, to protect NATO member countries from the worldview of the USSR. But at the present time there is no danger of revolution, atheism, or communism emanating from the Bolsheviks. The film spoke about the possibility of a preventive missile strike on Russia, that the first strike would be on military targets, the retaliatory missiles would be destroyed, and the second strike would be on cities. It was crazy to hear.
I remember the Gospel text, when the Jews grabbed stones and wanted to beat Jesus Christ, who had performed many miracles and healings, and He said: “Many good deeds have I shown you from My Father, for which of them do you want to beat Me?” (John 10:32). And therefore I want to ask: “Why do you want to kill us?” Maybe because, at the incredible cost of the lives of 27 million people who died during the war, we defended our country and freed humanity from fascism? Or for the fact that instead of the men who went to the front, women and teenagers worked at the machines, for overcoming the siege of Leningrad, which lasted 900 days and claimed the lives of more than a million people? Or for the fact that through incredible efforts, the selfless labor of the entire people, the country’s economy was restored in an incredibly short period of time, and we moved forward? We were the first to launch an artificial earth satellite, our Soviet man was the first to fly into space, and our man was also the first to go into space. Or because the USSR collapsed in 1991, and the existing economic ties between the republics were destroyed and, therefore, the economies of all the republics were destroyed? Or for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the disintegration of this country into several countries? Or for Desert Storm and the deaths of several hundred thousand people in Iraq? Or for the “color” revolutions in the Middle East, in Ukraine, which led to chaos, war, devastation? Or for placing a missile defense system on the territory of Bulgaria, which we liberated from enemies twice?
I stand at the window in front of a lit candle and remember my grandfather, father and thank them and everyone who defended our country and humanity from fascism. It's getting light. A plane flew high in the sky, its trail was visible and the sound was heard - the city noise had not yet drowned it out. Peaceful plane. Through the open window you can hear the singing of birds, you can even hear the nightingales that appeared in our yard this year. That’s how it dawned, the birds sang the same way back in 1941... And I, who was born in the post-war year 1947, just recently turned 70 years old, and I celebrated my anniversary with my family and friends. I was able to point it out. I dream that my son and grandchildren will celebrate the same anniversary.
This lit candle by the window is not only my memory of the war, of my loved ones, of all the people at the front and in the rear who defended our country from the enemy, not only my gratitude to them, it is also my dream, faith and hope for a peaceful sky above my country... God grant.”
Every year on June 22, the day when the Great Patriotic War began, mourning events are held in Russia and people lower their national flags, reports the site with reference to TASS.
Every year on June 22 in the Russian Federation the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow is celebrated - the memorable date of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
The Great Patriotic War
In 1941, on this day, German troops crossed the border of the USSR and attacked Soviet armed forces along its entire length, German aircraft bombed Kyiv, Minsk, Riga, Sevastopol and other cities.
The war lasted 1418 days. The total irretrievable losses of the USSR amounted to about 27 million people, of which 18 million were civilians, and about 8.7 million were the Armed Forces. 4 million Soviet citizens were killed and tortured in concentration camps, and more than 2 million of the 4.5 million Soviet military personnel died in captivity.
History of the memorable date
On July 13, 1992, by resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, June 22 was declared the Day of Remembrance of Defenders of the Fatherland. On June 8, 1996, by decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, it was renamed the Day of Memory and Sorrow. October 24, 2007 is included in the list of days of military glory and memorable dates of Russia, established federal law dated March 13, 1995
How the day is celebrated
On June 22, state flags are lowered at half-staff in Russia. All cultural institutions, television channels and radio stations are advised not to include entertainment programs or advertising in their programmes.
The country's leaders lay funeral wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. Meetings with veterans and other events dedicated to the memory of those killed during the Great Patriotic War are held in the regions. Many cities hold moments of silence.
“Memory Watch” and other events
An annual “Memory Watch” has been held in Moscow since 1994. The event, which takes place on the night of June 21-22, is attended by activists of youth movements, war veterans, and representatives of the Moscow government. As part of the action, at 4 am on June 22 in the Alexander Garden at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier there is a minute of silence and a flower laying ceremony.
In 2007, representatives of the Youth Apple organization initiated the “1,418 candles for every day of war” campaign. In Moscow, it is held on Poklonnaya Hill near the memorial plaque “1941”, in St. Petersburg - on the Fontanka embankment at the Siege Polynya memorial, in Volgograd - at Mamayev Kurgan.
Since 2009, the annual all-Russian event “Candle of Memory” has been held. It begins on June 21 in the Yelokhovsky Cathedral in Moscow with the lighting of a candle, which is then delivered to Poklonnaya Hill, to the Hall of Memory and Sorrow of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Many others are lit from this candle and taken to military burial sites and memorial complexes throughout the country. In 2015, in connection with the 70th anniversary of the Victory, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and other CIS countries joined the traditional Russian “Candle of Memory” event.
In 2009, a Memory Alley was opened on Sparrow Hills in Moscow, where annually on the night of June 22, candles are lit and bells are tied on tree branches, paying tribute to those who died during the war.
The “Train of Memory” campaign on the route “Moscow-Minsk-Brest” is also timed to coincide with this day. The train with veterans and representatives of youth organizations departs on June 20 from the Belorussky railway station of the capital and arrives in Brest on June 22, where ceremonial memorial events are taking place.
On June 17, 2017, the demilitarized armored column “Road of Courage” set off from Moscow to Brest. As part of the campaign, more than 15 units of equipment will travel through Moscow, Odintsovo, Golitsyn, Mozhaisk, Vyazma, Smolensk, Orsha, Minsk, Brest, Bereza, and then return to the Russian capital. The column will cover 2.3 thousand km - a route, according to the organizers, that completely coincides “with the one on which our troops defended in 1941.”
It was also reported that by June 22, the Moscow authorities will install an installation of LED strips"Living Fire"
Memorable dates in different countries
In Belarus, June 22, by decision of the Supreme Council of the Republic of June 21, 1991, was proclaimed the Day of National Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War. In Ukraine, the Day of Mourning and Commemoration of War Victims on June 22 was established by a decree of President Leonid Kuchma of November 17, 2000.
In Belarus and Ukraine, solemn commemorative events are held on this day - in particular, flower-laying ceremonies at memorials, in which top officials of the state take part, and a minute of silence is declared. On the territory of Belarus, state flags are lowered.
During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, the Azerbaijani people, along with other Soviet citizens, fought for victory over Nazi Germany and thereby made a huge contribution to the Victory.
Every fifth resident of Azerbaijan fought in this war with weapons in their hands. About 700 thousand Azerbaijanis went to the front, more than 10 thousand of them were women. About half of those who went to the front died on the battlefields and were wounded. Over 400 thousand Azerbaijanis have been awarded military awards and medals, 14 soldiers are full holders of the Order of Glory, 123 are heroes of the Soviet Union. On the territory of Azerbaijan, 87 battalions, 1123 self-defense detachments were created, the 77th, 223rd, 396th, 402nd and 416th national rifle divisions were formed, fighting from the foothills of the Caucasus to the Baltic states, Eastern Europe, and Berlin.
During the war, Azerbaijan was the main supplier of oil and petroleum products to the front. Over 70% of the total volume of oil produced in the USSR at that time was supplied by Baku. In 1941, Baku oil workers, taking into account the increased demand for oil, reached a record level of oil production - more than 23 million tons. Thousands of oil workers went to fight at the front, and women took their place in the fields. Considering that the Germans were blocking traditional transportation routes through the North Caucasus, it was decided to export oil through Central Asia. During the war, more than 130 types of weapons and ammunition were produced in Baku. More than 400 thousand soldiers of the Soviet Army, including those from the North Caucasus, were treated in Azerbaijani hospitals.
The Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in 2020 is celebrated on June 22. This is a memorable date for Russia. The holiday is dedicated to the date of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (WWII). In 2020, it is officially held in the Russian Federation for the 25th time. The commemorative events are attended by top officials of the state, war veterans, relatives of fallen soldiers, people who are not indifferent to the events of the war, youth and charitable organizations.
The purpose of the holiday is to honor the heroism of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.
history of the holiday
The Day of Memory and Mourning was established by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation B. Yeltsin dated June 8, 1996 No. 857. Before this, June 22 was declared the Day of Remembrance of Defenders of the Fatherland, according to the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated July 13, 1992. In 2007, the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow became a memorable date in Russia.
The date of the holiday coincides with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. On June 22, 1941, at 4 a.m., Nazi troops invaded the territory of the USSR.
Holiday traditions
On the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in Russia, state flags are lowered to half-mast. Wreath-laying ceremonies are held at the memorials of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Minutes of silence are announced. The President of the Russian Federation lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.
Memorial services are held in churches for those killed during the Second World War.
An all-Russian patriotic event “Memory Watch” is being organized. Eternal flame". Participants light a Candle of Remembrance to pay tribute to the heroism of WWII soldiers. The campaigns “Candle of Memory on June 22 - a candle of memory on my window”, “Line of Memory” are taking place. On the eve of the holiday, the “Train of Memory” campaign is held. The train with WWII veterans and youth organizations follows the route “Moscow-Minsk-Brest”. On June 22, train passengers participate in the requiem meeting “Let us bow to those great years” in the Brest Fortress. They light candles from the Eternal Flame and lower them into the Bug River.
Charitable foundations raise money to help participants in military operations. Thematic history lessons are held in schools. Young people meet with war veterans.
Exhibitions are organized military equipment. Military song concerts are organized. Open-air cinemas broadcast films about the war. TV channels and radio stations are removing entertainment programs from their broadcasts.
- As a result of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR lost 26.6 million people. 4-5 million were captured by the Nazis.
