"After the losses inflicted by World War II, it seemed that humanity changed forever and learned the real price to be paid for the war. Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov addressed Ukrainians on the occasion of the Day of Victory over Nazism. Its graphic image presents a kind of allusion: a poppy flower and a bloody gunshot wound.
Remembrance poppy has been the official symbol to mark the Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II for several years now in Ukraine as the generally accepted symbol of commemorative days around the globe. At the same time, the emphasis is shifted from the military hostilities to the stories of specific people, and, therefore, it is proposed to honor the memory, not celebrate. Today, the people, who fought against the Nazism, are commemorated, and the solidarity and combat brotherhood of all the United Nations, both states and stateless peoples, is honored. About 45,000 people fought in the armies of the United Kingdom and Canada, 120,000 people – in the army of Poland, about 6 million people – the army of the USSR, 80,000 people – the US army, 6,000 – the army of France, and up to 100,000 people were in the ranks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The natives of Ukraine made a significant contribution to the victory over Nazism. Over 700 towns and urban-type settlements and nearly 30,000 villages were completely ruined. About ten million people lost their shelter. Moreover, 2.2 million people were taken to the forced labor camps in Nazi Germany. According to various estimates, from 8 to 10 million people, including about 5 million civilians, were killed in Ukraine during World War II. It should be noted that Ukraine suffered the greatest losses during World War II among all the world countries, not only the former Soviet republics. On September 17, the Soviet Union entered World War II by attacking Poland and occupying part of its territory, according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact secret protocol. On that day, German military aircraft bombed Lviv and other cities. World War II began for Ukraine on September 1, 1939, with the Nazi German invasion of Poland. The Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II was established as a public holiday by the Law of Ukraine “On the Immortalization of Victory over Nazism in World War II of 1939-1945.” Marking the Day of Victory over Nazism implies rethinking the World War II events, dispelling the Soviet historical myths, conducting an honest dialogue on the complicated pages of the past.
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