Today is the most sacred holiday for our people. It marks the end of Great Patriotic War and liberation of the Soviet Union from Nazis. In total almost 27 million Soviet people died during the war including those remaining in the occupied areas and 700 thousands of those starved to death in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) during the blockade that lasted for 872 days...
Nothing is forgotten. Nobody is forgotten. Every family has been affected. Every heart is aching for the lost son, brother, father, grandfather, beloved...
I congratulate you on holiday!
My Opa was freed from a POW camp outside of Auschwitz by the Soviet army after being captured in North Africa and force marched there. I, and so many others, would not be alive today, if not for that. I won't forget the sacrifices that required either.