Victory Day
- Thread starter Morbyd
- Start date
Boardgrrrrl
Active Member
Tanks 8)
Did you enjoy your day off Morbyd?
Did you enjoy your day off Morbyd?
Morbyd
Moderator
Day off was good... pretty relaxed, actually.
I only left the house for a couple of hours to see the tanks rolling through my neighborhood
Otherwise, stayed at home, cooked, watched TV and movies. Didn't even make it out for the fireworks in the evening, as initially planned.
Do they mark the occasion in any way in the UK?
I think in the US we called it V.E. Day (Victory in Europe) but I don't remember it ever being a big deal. Here it's like a high holy day.
I only left the house for a couple of hours to see the tanks rolling through my neighborhood
Otherwise, stayed at home, cooked, watched TV and movies. Didn't even make it out for the fireworks in the evening, as initially planned.
Do they mark the occasion in any way in the UK?
I think in the US we called it V.E. Day (Victory in Europe) but I don't remember it ever being a big deal. Here it's like a high holy day.
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Mow mean Olly
eh?
I wasn't having a go at Morbyd. Am just interested in whether these parades are simply shows of strength or if there has been proper 'closure' - are Poles for instance invited to join in too? Generally speaking though, I think we should all just move on from WWII
Misunderstood. I went to a D-Day celebration and they had German veterans there for the first time. I think that was good thing. Most people just want to sweep the ugly past under the rug, even if it is the elephant in the room. I think WWII it is something we should always remember so we don't repeat it again.
Morbyd
Moderator
No, Olly. There is no "Stalin Gulag/Mass Deportations/Ukrainian Famine/Summary Executions Memorial Day"
Of course, half (or more) of the tens of millions of deaths here during WWII were due to bad government policy and an evil dictator. And they didn't do themselves any favors by trying to make a deal with Hitler at the onset.
But we (Brits & Americans) can never imagine the human cost that war had in the Soviet Union. It is mindboggling how much death and destruction they suffered at the hands of the Germans while we delayed in opening the Western Front.
So, despite certain misgivings, I (mentally) let them have this day to celebrate. It's actually called the Great Patriotic War here, not WWII. It is that vital a piece of their history.
Should we forget about it? I don't know... ask the English football fans I saw in Blomfontein, S.A. last summer. They were singing about war victories and running around with inflatable bomber plane toys.
Of course, half (or more) of the tens of millions of deaths here during WWII were due to bad government policy and an evil dictator. And they didn't do themselves any favors by trying to make a deal with Hitler at the onset.
But we (Brits & Americans) can never imagine the human cost that war had in the Soviet Union. It is mindboggling how much death and destruction they suffered at the hands of the Germans while we delayed in opening the Western Front.
So, despite certain misgivings, I (mentally) let them have this day to celebrate. It's actually called the Great Patriotic War here, not WWII. It is that vital a piece of their history.
Should we forget about it? I don't know... ask the English football fans I saw in Blomfontein, S.A. last summer. They were singing about war victories and running around with inflatable bomber plane toys.
ask the English football fans I saw in Blomfontein, S.A. last summer. They were singing about war victories and running around with inflatable bomber plane toys.
I personally think that should be an arrestable offence - and stigmatised much in the same way that chanting about Hillsborough/Heysel/Munich/skin colour is
on the history though - of course it should never be forgotten but I just think that's something that should be left to the schools and not governments/the military, who tend to be big on glory and not so big on awkward truths.
