• Uzbekistan: Victory or Remembrance?

    • May 28, 2015 - 11:25 pm
    • Uzbekistan, WWII
    • Comments Off on Uzbekistan: Victory or Remembrance?

    By Maryna Polataiko for postcommunistmonuments.ca

    May 8, 2015, marks the 70th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in World War II. Some have been exultantly calling it “Victory Day” and others solemnly referring to it as the “Day of Remembrance.” While Russia has been preparing to celebrate and commemorate the ‘Great Patriotic War,’ some former U.S.S.R. republics are less keen to embrace what they see as a day lauding the Soviet exploitation of soldiers drafted for the campaign. Uzbekistan, for example lost tens of thousands in the effort against the Axis powers.

    Thus it is probably not an accident that the city authorities of Angren (Uzbekistan) have recently torn down a Soviet statue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Soviet triumph. The removal of the memorial on March 19, assert Angren officials, is simply a component of a larger city development scheme.

    [SOURCES:]

    http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbeks-demolish-ww2-memorial/26911293.html

    “Uzbeks Demolish World War II Memorial Ahead of Anniversary.” Radio Free Europe, March 20, 2015. Accessed March 20, 2015. http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbeks-demolish-ww2-memorial/26911293.html.

    http://www.satrapia.com/news/article/uzbeks-demolish-world-war-ii-memorial/

    “Uzbeks Demolish World War II Memorial.” The Gazette of Central Asia, March 20, 2015. Accessed March 20, 2015. http://www.satrapia.com/news/article/uzbeks-demolish-world-war-ii-memorial/.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/25/70-years-later-the-world-is-still-fighting-world-war-ii/

    Isaah Tharoor. “70 Years Later the World is still Fighting World War II.” Washington Post, March 25, 2015. Accessed March 30, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/25/70-years-later-the-world-is-still-fighting-world-war-ii/.