RPT - Soviet Army Reenactors In US To Commemorate 80 Years Of Beginning Of Great Patriotic War

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th June, 2021) A US-based group of reenactors of the Soviet Army will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 by sharing living history with Americans in a museum in Long Island, New York state, group member Sukhrob Asilov told Sputnik.

The Museum of American Armor in Long Island will host a World War II Encampment Weekend event on June 19-20, just two days before the date when Russia and all former Soviet Republic commemorate the invasion of Nazi Germany in 1941.

"We will have our talk about that date during the event," Asilov said, who is portraying a World War II-era Soviet senior lieutenant of the infantry. "It is kind of special day for my family itself. Definitely, I am going to tell some stories about the beginning of the war to the public."

The museum event will gather together US-based reenactors portraying different armies that participated in World War II. They will be organizing firing and tactical demonstrations, as well as sharing stories about their military regiments.

"We are going to build small setup of the Soviet camp with few tents and few World War II vehicles that we own, as well as few lend-lease vehicles that museums will give us for that event," said Asilov, whose group will be portraying the 193rd rifle division of the Red Army. "We are going to introduce the Soviet Union and Red Army to the public, explain to them the story of World War II from the perspective of the Soviet nation."

World War II reenactors movement brings together thousands of people in the US who portray different armies. "We keep growing year after year, " Asilov said.

Speaking of his own group, he noted that most of its participants are regular Americans.

Only a fraction are first- or second-generation immigrants from former Soviet Republics, including Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Spectators, who visit living history events in the US, usually demonstrate great interest in World War II history but have different levels of knowledge.

"For some people, the history of World War II is just some pages in the US or world war history. People are not really involved in this type of stories, and they really know nothing about that," Asilov said. "But there is always a bunch of people, whom I see at events, who actually come by and they know the great knowledge of World War II history, and especially of the European theater, in which the Soviet Union was involved."

Some people know about the war from computer games, movies or documentaries, while others by studying in Europe or Russia.

"Our role is to explain and make people a little bit more interested, get them involved in something, and later on, when that person comes by the next time, they will come with a big cargo of knowledge, which is really nice to see," he said.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union by attacking Brest, Kiev and other Soviet cities with the largest invasion force in the history of warfare. The Great Patriotic war lasted 1,418 days and ended on May 9, 1945, when Nazi Germany capitulated.

June 22 is observed annually in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine as Remembrance Day for the Great Patriotic War victims.

The 193rd rifle division of the Red Army was created in March 1941 and enlisted as part of the South Ural Military District in December 1941. The division participated in the battles of Stalingrad, Kursk, the Lower Dnepr Offensive and other major operations of World War II.