June 22, 1941 is one of the saddest dates in Russian history because the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany began on that day.
June 22, 1941 is one of the saddest dates in Russian history because the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany began on that day.
Official mourning events, timed to coincide with the 71st anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, are held on the Day of Memory and Sorrow in all Russian regions.
Great Patriotic War veterans and participants in the social-patriotic event of the United Russia Party’s Tomsk regional chapter lit the “Candle of Memory” on the Day of Memory and Sorrow near the Eternal Flame of the War and Labor Glory Memorial in Tomsk’s Lagerny Garden.
In all, 1,418 candles were lit on Moscow’s Poklonnaya Hill, one for each day of the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin honored the memory of those killed during the Great Patriotic War. He laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden. Photo: Young people light “Candles of Memory” in the Alexander Garden on the Day of Memory and Sorrow.
Nazi forces crossed the Soviet border on June 22, 1941. Thus began the Great Patriotic War, which lasted 1,418 days and claimed the lives of more than 20 million people.
Before 1992, the day of the start of the Great Patriotic War was not officially celebrated. On July 13, 1992, the Presidium of the Russian Federation’s Supreme Soviet (Parliament) issued its resolution proclaiming June 22 the Day of Memory of the Motherland’s Defenders. As per the June 8, 1996 Presidential Decree, the day of the start of the Great Patriotic War was proclaimed the Day of Memory and Sorrow.
