Russian Defense Ministry releases documents on 1941 military parade in Kuibyshev
MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's Defense Ministry has for the first time published declassified documents about a military parade on November 7, 1941, in Kuibyshev, a Soviet city where part of the government had been evacuated after the Soviet Union entered World War II.
The air show was the parade's most impressive part, according to a statement from the ministry issued on Thursday.
"Unique documents about the participation of more than 230 aircraft crews from eight air force regiments and five flying schools who had taken an amazingly short time - just three days! - to get ready for the grand event have been posted not only on the Internet portal of the [Defense Ministry] but also in official accounts in social media resources," the statement said.
"That parade became for the pilots a form of exam for professional skills and a much-desired pass for the frontline - after the parade, the command made a meticulous and detailed analysis of the performance of each pilot. Soon all of them were fighting the Nazis on the frontline," the ministry said.
"The infantry part of the parade was handled by the Red Army's 65th Rifle Division, which was en route to the front from the Far East and had stopped over in Kuibyshev because of the [parade]. The day after the parade, the division got back on trains and was sent to the vicinity of Tikhvin, where it went into battle with German fascist invaders immediately after getting off the trains," the statement said.
"As recorded in the declassified documents, the participants in the parade in Kuibyshev included Mikhail Kalinin, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and Marshal of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov, a representative of the Headquarters of the High Command. They made a high assessment of the morale and combat training standards of the parade participants," the ministry said.
A year ago, the ministry website carried previously unknown documents on a military parade in Moscow on November 7, 1941, and on preparations for it.