The action "Immortal regiment" was held in the USA: why part of the Russian-speaking diaspora against

4-5 in May in many major cities of America passed the action "Immortal Regiment". Processions with portraits of fallen heroes of the war took place in New York, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Miami and other cities. According to Russian media reports, a record number of people — about two thousand people — took part in the march in New York.

"Immortal Regiment" in New York. Photo: Facebook Arkadiy Bogatyryov

Grandchildren heroes

In San Francisco, the procession turned out more modest. Its participants began the celebration with a motor rally, then laid flowers at the memorials of those killed in the battles of World War II and marched along the San Francisco Embankment, after which they organized a concert and the traditional game Zarnitsa.

Young member of the “Immortal Regiment” in San Francisco. Photo by the author.

«Firstly, I myself am the granddaughter of the hero of Stalingrad. Secondly, when we learned that this was not a political, not a commercial, but a civil initiative, we told ourselves that there should be an “Immortal Regiment” in San Francisco! This is the fifth year we have been holding this event and we plan to continue it in the future. Every year there are more and more participants. A large team of volunteers helps us, and we are grateful to the people who do not forget at what cost we defeated fascism. Yes, we will not cry, we will rejoice, albeit with tears in our eyes. But we should not cry, because the vanquished cry, and our grandfathers won - so that we, our children and grandchildren, and future generations can live, and so that this evil will never be repeated on earth. Our fathers and grandfathers defeated absolute evil!", - one of the organizers of the action said in an interview with ForumDaily Vera Skorcessul.

The organizers emphasize that their event does not carry any political context and is financially independent of the Russian authorities.

«We collect the money for the procession ourselves, often laying it out of our pocket."- says Vera.

«In my family, father and two grandfathers were war heroes. Moreover, my grandmother and mother, who at the time was a ten-year-old child, also contributed to the victory. She saved a whole platoon. Then the Germans attacked Kharkov, and the SS was looking for our fighters. Mom and her friend showed them a false mark and led the Germans to the station - in the opposite direction from where the Soviet soldiers went. The grandmother at the same time hid the major of the Soviet army under her bath", - says another participant in the action in San Francisco, an emigrant from Kharkov Valentin Gorenko.

Valentin Gorenko. Photo by the author.

Valentin believes: the situation in the world at the moment is such that it is necessary to talk about the war publicly, including through the “Immortal Regiment”.

«My father regularly went to such a procession. I did not go with him before and still cannot convince my son to visit the Immortal Regiment. But the time is now that we have to go out. Now everything is repeated again, and we are not going anywhere from this“- he is sure.

“Aggression, covered with portraits”

It is this connection with modernity, which Valentin sees in the Immortal Regiment, which is the main stumbling block for the majority of Russian-speaking Americans who do not want to participate in the procession. In their opinion, the memory of the war is used primarily to justify Russia's current policy.

«My parents were both combatants. For them, Victory Day has always been a holiday with tears in their eyes, they recalled many, many comrades who were not lucky enough to survive. They told how tragically scary - the war! And the main thing for them was - God forbid that this would happen again! Never again, never any wars - it was the hope and faith of my parents. And I am shocked by the Russians, screaming: "We can repeat." And they repeat! In Chechnya, in Georgia, in Ukraine. I do not want to be at least something like them"- emphasizes Natalia Kornilova from new york

Procession in San Francisco. Photo by the author.

Some believe that the Immortal Regiment in its current format does not reflect the true memory of the tragic events of the war and, more likely, offends those who actually fought. These people are sure that if their loved ones were alive today, they would not approve such an event, and certainly would not participate in it.

«My grandfather went through the entire war, until Berlin, was seriously wounded several times, and walked with a limp. While he was fighting, his young wife and two girls, 3 and 5 years old, died at Babi Yar. His mother and sisters and their families died in the town. He never, while he was alive, even agreed to go to the parade on this day with orders, even when I begged him as a child. The purpose of this event is not at all to remember people like him and those who gave their lives. The purpose of the “Immortal Regiment” event is to justify today’s victims of the Putin regime, clouding people’s brains and hiding behind portraits of those who really lost everything in that war", - considers Jana Ratman from San Francisco.

"Love of country is a serious feeling"

Some respondents see a political action in the “Immortal Regiment”, designed to romanticize the image of the Soviet Union and modern Russia. This is especially true of the main symbol of the action - the so-called “St. George Ribbon”, which is actively used by today's supporters of the “Russian world”.

«The celebration of victory over the past 10-15 years has become so usurped by the most obscurantist political forces that it is simply impossible to separate oneself from this in the context of a noisy event. In addition, their ribbon (which my veteran grandfather, by the way, had no idea about, since it was not a widespread symbol of the holiday) today is more associated with expansion, the “Russian world”, the fight against imaginary “fascism” and, most importantly, with aggression against Ukraine", - considers Alexander Markman from San Diego.

There were indeed a lot of “St. George’s Ribbons” and other Soviet symbols at the festival. Photo by the author.

However, the most important "claim" to the "Immortal Regiment" was the idea of ​​war as some kind of a festive, solemn and even desirable event in the present conditions.

«I know my grandfather, a handsome man and a lifeline, and my dad's brother, who were killed in the war, only from the numerous bitter, tearing up the soul stories of my surviving relatives. Love and pain - who does it put up at the parade? What do people want to demonstrate with this? Patriotism? But love for the Motherland is a quiet, serious, deep feeling based on the most dear to us, but not on war, death, destruction, loss of loved ones, grief of millions and tragedy for the whole country. The memory of this war will live in generations, but grief and unhappiness cannot be turned into a tool of war propaganda, driving this damned word into brains as a usual element of our life. No more war! No need to so massively and relentlessly call her ghost. Memory in the heart, not in a parade. At the parade you have to go for peace, for life, for joy. Another thing is that the government does not welcome this, judging by the recent May Day demonstration in big cities, so that people would go for peace, freedom, happiness. And she welcomes war after war"- sure Natalia Zhukova from Oregon.

Continuation of the procession. Photo by the author.

In a word, it can be stated that both supporters and opponents of the "Immortal Regiment" equally honor the memory of veterans of the Second World War and remember their loved ones who died in those tragic years. However, the attitude towards what this memory should be and what exactly it should symbolize is different for different representatives of the diaspora.

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