Abstract

There is a widespread misconception that Victory Day was not officially celebrated in the Soviet Union after Stalin stripped it of its work-free status in 1947. This chapter examines war commemoration until 1965 through a critical discussion of this thesis. The arguments are informed by archival sources from Belarus and Ukraine as well as Moscow, and a perspective on foreign and domestic commemorative policies as entangled rather than separate spheres. Instead of positing a stark contrast between top–down propaganda and grassroots practices, the chapter discusses how the state gradually took over elements from religious commemorative rituals, and how local commemorative practices developed in the western parts of the USSR that were compatible with the official commemorative repertoire while gradually modifying it from within. The final section proposes a fresh look at the reasons why Victory Day regained its work-free status in 1965 and became the centerpiece of a new cult.

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