65 years!
Last night Husbandrinka came from Paris (a week early, because he didn’t think that he would fare well in Husbandrinka vs. The Volcano) and I said, “hi, so it’s 65 years tomorrow!” and he looked at me and said, “Huh, in France, they celebrate on May 8th. There was a big flag on the [insert name of important French monument here].”
Which didn’t make sense to me.
Because May 9th marks the day that the Germans surrendered to the Russians.
Are the French implying that the Germans pre-surrendered to them the day before and just went through the surrender ceremony with the Russians the next day so as to not hurt their feelings or something? Sort of like, “okay, you went through all the trouble, we give up, wink, wink the French, you’re the ones who really got us!”?
Update: Mama told me that it’s better to say that the Russians defeated fascism, so that the German people won’t get offended.
Update 2.0: Husbandrinka wants you to know that it was technically the Soviets who defeated the Germans, and not the Russians. He still has no explanation as to why the French celebrate it one day early.
Update 3.0 Oh yeah, Happy Mother’s Day. For a much more fun Mother’s Day post, check this out.
Update/Confession: I am a moron. I just googled “why does France celebrate Victory Day on May 8th and Russia on May 9th?!!” and I learned that
In Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of former Soviet Union, the day of Victory over Nazi Germany was celebrated on May 9, because when the German Instrument of Surrender actually entered into force (May 8, 1945 at 23:01 CET), it was already May 9 by Moscow Time. Some post-Soviet countries, most notably The Russian Federation, have continued the tradition.
Also, I should have specified Nazi Germany and not just Germany. Again, Happy Mother’s Day! I cannot stress that enough!
P.S. I’m not sure if I have the right to use that image above. I mean, I gave it credit and everything, but who knows. But I figure that as an ex-Soviet, I have moral rights to it, right?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: MommysMartini
May 9, 2010 at 9:18 am
You will be glad to know that images on Wikipedia commons are public domain ones, so you are violating no copyright laws in this post. I know that is your primary concern here, so I wanted to put you at ease.
(Also? Happy Mother’s Day.)
Twitter: goldengirlblogs
May 9, 2010 at 10:37 am
thanks for the mini-history lesson. thanks to your site, i learn something new almost every day. happy “mudder’s” {how my son pronounces it} day to you, too. take care, Marinka.
Twitter: comagirlblogger
May 9, 2010 at 11:14 am
Um, it’s Sunday, my brain can’t handle a history lesson. Don’t you have a funny Nikki story to share?
In a few months Euro will be slaughtered and the Victory will be complete.
I am admiring Britt’s wisdom and foresight.
Happy Mother’s Day to a Sassy mommy 🙂
This was my favorite part “Also, I should have specified Nazi Germany and not just Germany. Again, Happy Mother’s Day! I cannot stress that enough!”
It’s so rare to have Nazi Germany and Mother’s Day mentioned in the same breath. But then, you’re always on the cutting edge.
Happy MDay to you, Marinka! So glad I found your blog!
Wow, that’s shiny. I like shiny.