VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) – The city of Volgograd readopted its old name of Stalingrad for a few hours on Saturday, as Russia commemorated the 70th anniversary of the battle that turned the tide of World War Two.
The victory in the six-month Battle of Stalingrad, which killed about 2 million people, is a symbol of national pride which has produced an outburst of patriotic fervor and, for some, nostalgia for the Soviet era and dictator Josef Stalin.
President Vladimir Putin flew to Volgograd, known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961, to lay a wreath and meet veterans after a military parade led by soldiers in World War Two uniforms and featuring a wartime T-34 tank.
“I saw cities in Europe that were practically untouched by the war, countries that capitulated to the more powerful enemies even before war was declared,” First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in a speech at the parade.
“But we are not like that. Our grandfathers, our fathers, our older generation, our great leaders, fought here for each building, for each street.”
Hundreds of war veterans turned up for the parade on Volgograd’s central Square of the Fallen Fighters, their coats weighed down by medals, the youngest of them now 89.
After Stalingrad, Soviet troops fought their way westward to Berlin, taking the German capital 27 months later.
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“It’s very important to remember this battle,” said Valentina Olekhina, who was celebrating her 70th birthday.
She was born in Stalingrad on February 2, 1942, the day Nazi German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus told his forces to cease fire after he was captured in a cellar by Soviet troops.
“I think my mother went into labor out of relief or excitement. I was born outside but I don’t know exactly where,” she told Reuters.
SURGE OF PATRIOTISM
Putin did not attend the parade but flew to the city 900 km (600 miles) south of Moscow after holding a reception for veterans in the Kremlin on Friday.
“At the heart of all Russia’s victories and achievements are patriotism, faith and strength of spirit,” Putin said on Friday. “In World War Two, these true values inspired our people and our army.”
Under a decision by the city council intended to please the veterans, Volgograd was referred to as Stalingrad at the official events. Admirers of Stalin posted his portrait in minibuses, in a move not approved by the authorities.
For 200 days, Germans and Russians fought hand to hand, street by street and from room to room, battling the winter cold and sometimes starvation too.
Russian historians say 40,000 people were killed on the day of fiercest bombing and at the height of combat the average survival time of Soviet soldiers sent into battle was 24 hours.
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Pride in the bravery of Soviet troops and the endurance of civilians trapped during the battle unites almost all Russians ..
Russian television has repeatedly shown footage from wartime Stalingrad and broadcast films and documentaries about the battle.
Even the crew of the orbiting International Space Station congratulated the war veterans.
“We will always be grateful for your heroic act. The memory of it will live on down the ages,” cosmonaut Roman Romanenko said in video footage shown on Russian television.