On May 7, 2010, the XVIII congress of the Union of the Hero Cities of the CIS, timed to the celebration of the 65th anniversary of Victory in Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 was opened by a plenary session in St.Petersburg.
On May 7, 2010, the XVIII congress of the Union of the Hero Cities of the CIS, timed to the celebration of the 65th anniversary of Victory in Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 was opened by a plenary session in St.Petersburg.
To participate in the congress, the delegations of the veterans from Moscow, Kiev, Minsk, Murmansk, Odessa, Kerch, Smolensk, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Volgograd, Tula, and Brest arrived to the city at the Neva River that got the highest rank of a hero city one of the first.
L.A. Kostkina, Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg, welcomed the delegates saying: "Dear veterans! Dear friends! Just two days separate us from the great and sacred holiday - Victory Day. This is a holiday of national pride and glory, of invincibility and strength of spirit... Today, St.Petersburg is welcoming the delegations of all hero cities of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The "Hero City" is a unique title. Leningrad's lot was to meet the hardest trial - 900 long days of bombing and shelling, starvation and frost. And Petersburgers are proud that Leningrad was awarded the title of Hero City one of the first... The Victory Day knows no borders, it unites people of all ages, all countries and continents... All together, we are honouring our veterans today, who won the greatest of the wars of the XX century".
She also read out a message of D.A. Medvedev, President of Russian Federation, to the congress: "May 9 is a sacred holiday for all the countries – CIS members. Our peoples made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism, sustaining all the trials and tribulations of severe wartime. And paying the homage and respect for the winners, the Commonwealth announced 2010 as the Year of Veterans.
Respectful attitude for the heroic events of our common past is a pledge of friendly and good-neighbourly relations between our peoples. The annual meetings of the representatives of public associations of the CIS Hero Cities also make a significant contribution to strengthening these."
At the plenary session, the project "Hero Cities" of pupils of the Lyceum № 373 of Moskovskiy District of Saint-Petersburg was presented, which was endorsed by all participants of the congress. The project is devoted to preserving the memory of Soviet people's victory over fascism and to keeping the dialogue of the pupils from the hero cities of the CIS countries, which help study the historical context of the wartime years.
Following the plenary session of the congress, a resolution was adopted that emphasized the role of the heroic and patriotic education of the young: "In some countries and the former members of Soviet Union, there are vandalistic actions and abuse of the monuments to the soldiers-liberators, burial places of Soviet soldiers; creating the museums of Soviet occupation... In this regard, the heroic and patriotic education of the young is of particular importance and significance, at which the participation of those who went on a gory road of war is hard to overestimate. The war veterans, however well on in years, still find the strength and constantly work with the young people, delivering the invaluable truth about the war and glorifying the great deed of the winner people.
The next congress of XIX International Union of Hero Cities is planned in 2011 at the Hero City of Moscow, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the victory of Soviet troops at Moscow.
News source: Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg