Prisoners On Parade
Some archive footage here, to the accompaniment of the Red Army Choir.
In one of the earliest Victory Day parades, around 50,000 German prisoners of war were marched through the streets of Moscow. They weren’t allowed to break out of line and many soiled themselves.
On the whole, Russian citizens were not disrespectful - some even threw bread to the German soldiers.
The Victory Day song, Den Pobedi, was specially commissioned in the 1970s but at first it was not considered appropriate by the authorities. They complained that it ‘abused the rhythms of tango and foxtrot’ - bourgeois dances frowned upon by Stalin.
However, popular Soviet singer Lev Leshchenko performed the song on TV in defiance of the censors, after which it became the standard song of all Victory Day celebrations.
CD
Nice history post.
The newsreels show some expressed animosity from the citizenry. Overall, My understanding is that the manner was (as you describe) civil.
Right after the parade, street cleaning vehicles performed their function as they drove thru the parade route. It has been suggested that this action had an intended aspect to it.
A most interesting period for sure.
please stop your government support of ahmadinejad . people of iran are angry with russia goverment because of support of killers and dictators of iran. please help us
http://downwithrussia.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/iran-green-protest-down-with-russia/
It’s funny China and several other nations also recognised Ahmadinejad, but there is no western propaganda campaign against them. Those israeloamerican propagandists really have it in for Russia.