Taking into account the exceptional significance of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in the life of the world community and the merits of the people who took part in it, the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States decided in Ashgabat on October 11, 2019 to "Address the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States to the peoples of the Commonwealth and the world community in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. ”
The Great Patriotic War was a severe test for the entire Soviet people and World War II — for the people of the Allied countries.
The role of military communications is invaluable as the main means of ensuring control of the fronts during the period of hostilities, both for the regular army and for partisan and underground movements in the occupied territories.
In the first months of the war, the enemy managed to destroy a significant part of the overhead and land cable lines, which led to long interruptions in the work of wired communications. The signalmen lacked modern technology, combat experience, and the ability to provide communications in maneuverable conditions, under the strong influence of enemy aircraft and artillery, and with constant attacks on communication nodes and lines.
But the courage, fearlessness and enormous desire of the signalmen to contribute to the defeat of the Nazi invaders, the determination to overcome all the difficulties to fulfill the tasks that the command posed to the communications troops contributed to the stability of the functioning of communications on the fronts.
More than a million detachment of military signalmen was
on the active fronts of World War II, providing communications for the command of all the combat arms at all command and control levels.
Among the communication heroes are representatives of 24 nationalities.
The geography of the deeds of signalmen during the Great Patriotic War is vast. They took place in battles near Moscow and Leningrad, during the defence of Stalingrad and on the Kursk Bulge, during the crossing of the Dnieper and the storming of Berlin, in partisan and reconnaissance detachments, and underground organizations. Dozens of signalmen were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, fighting for the liberation of Poland and Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and other European countries.
During the Great Patriotic War, 303 communications warriors were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 106 people became full cavaliers of the Order of Glory, almost 600 communication units were awarded orders, and 58 communication regiments became guards. A large group of scientists and engineers for the development and implementation of the latest radio communications equipment has been awarded state prizes and other government awards.
Shoulder to shoulder with men selflessly fulfilled their duty and women. During the Great Patriotic War, 13 female signalmen were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
No matter what kind of troops and types of the Armed Forces the signalmen serve, everywhere they exemplarily performed their military duty:
168 heroes of communications men fought in units and subunits of communications of rifle and motorized rifle corps, divisions, regiments, brigades and battalions;
49 heroes-radio operators and telephone operators provided fire control of artillery regiments, divisions and batteries;
40 Heroes of the Soviet Union - signalmen served in aviation;
4 - in Armored Corps;
26 - in the Navy;
Among the signalmen there are cavalry heroes, paratroopers and border guards.
In 1941-1945 difficult tests fell not only on the shoulders of military signalmen. The severity of the struggle for victory over the Nazi troops every minute felt and shared with the country the whole huge army of workers of national communications.
The tasks of the signalmen included the creation of conditions for the timely transmission of the most important orders, reports from the front line, orders and commands from the center, the headquarters of the High Command to the fronts. At the same time, it was necessary to constantly inform the front about the work of the military industry - factories and factories aimed at the production of military equipment, equipment and ammunition, and the functioning of other sectors of the economy aimed at fulfilling military orders and other needs of the front.
One of the most common types of communications on the battlefield was landline phones. For the young generation living in the age of mobile communications, these devices seem extremely outdated. But in those years - in the absence of any infrastructure, literally "on the battlefield" - such phones made it possible to covertly control troops and prepare a defense, offensive or other military operations.
A huge role during the Great Patriotic War was played by our post office, which was sometimes the only connecting link between millions of people, processing a huge flow of correspondence between relatives and friends at the front and in the rear.
In cities, villages, and villages, the postman had not only the professional duty of delivering correspondence, but also a great moral burden, as he became the first person whom people trusted both their heartache, suffering and disappointments, as well as joy, hope, and the expectation of good news .
It was estimated that 70 million letters were delivered monthly to the active Red Army alone.
Decorated only with an address on the outside of the sheet, military triangles did not require envelopes, stamps, and were sealed and delivered free of charge.
Many still keep these priceless, yellowed letters from time to time in their family archives, passing them from generation to generation.
The work of the country's broadcasting network during the war years deserves special attention. It was she who became the tool with which the population received information about the situation on the fronts, about defeats and victories, the results of great and small battles.
Through the existing extensive network of radio points in the streets and in the houses of the Sovinformburo reports, they regularly covered the course of the hostilities.
A witness of great grief in the early years of the war and a witness of great joy in the following years was a reproducer.
The hardware studio of the Sovinformburo was located in the building of the Central Telegraph in Moscow, from where Yuri Borisovich Levitan read out current information.
Unfortunately, there is no data on how many people managed to save their lives during air raids and artillery shelling, during evacuation measures - by timely warning of the population about imminent danger through a radio broadcast network, however, we can assume that these figures are huge.
RCC Communications Administrations prepared for this great holiday in advance, discussing joint events, exchanging information on national programs adopted by their governments by this date.
On the monument to the unknown soldier in Moscow there is an inscription - "Your name is unknown - your feat is immortal."
Everyone knows the words of the Leningrad poetess Olga Berggolz, which are carved on the granite stele of the Piskarevsky memorial cemetery in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) "Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten!".
In these words - a call to future generations to remember the feat that millions of people performed to defend their land, their people, their families in the name of peace on earth, prosperity and a happy future.
Information on the participation of the Communications Administration of the Republic of Armenia in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War
In May 2020, the Communications Administration of the Republic of Armenia will issue a stamp dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Information on the participation of the Communications Administration of the Republic of Belarus in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War
The Ministry of Communications of Belarus together with RUE Belpochta prepared a diverse postal product for the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
In accordance with a preliminary agreement with Russian colleagues, a joint issue of Belarus and Russia was released on May 8. 75 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War (https://www.mpt.gov.by/ru/news/08-05-2020-6290). In April 2020, the postal block “75 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War”, made in the form of a triangle, was put into circulation. Also marked art envelopes “75 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War” were issued, at the beginning of the year an art labelled envelope “125 years since the birth of K. P. Orlovsky” from the series “Heroes of the Soviet Union”, envelopes “Sailors are natives of Belarus” were issued . Anton Iosifovich Gurin ”and“ Ilya Pavlovich Mazuruk ”. Additionally, the Belarusian post pleased us with a novelty - the art paper “Letters of War”: a letter in the form of a triangle is collected along the numbered lines.
Belarusian mobile cellular telecommunications operators, like last year, continue to offer specialized Victory tariff plans for veterans of the Second World War, as well as for people over 75 years of age.
Traditionally, disabled people and participants in the Great Patriotic War were granted the right to use landline telephone services in the Republic of Belarus free of charge from Beltelecom (local and long-distance calls) from home telephones and phones installed in hospitals from May 7 to 11 this year. Also free of charge is the opportunity to make local, long-distance, international calls using service telephone cards (STK) with a face value of 16,000 tariff units.
By tradition, RUE Beltelecom annually extends the validity of the Victory Day with ZALA campaign, within which disabled people and veterans of the Great Patriotic War can connect for free to the ZALA airtime standard TV package and the ZALA interactive premiere base package and use the service without a monthly fee.
The campaign “Victory Day with ZALA for new subscribers” (May-August 2020) was continued, providing for connecting subscribers from among people over 75 years of age, with a 100% discount on the installation fee and monthly subscription fee for 3 months from the date of connection.
All the events organized by the Communications Administration of the Republic of Belarus dedicated to the celebration of the 75th Victory in the Great Patriotic War can be found at: https://www.mpt.gov.by/ru/75-letiie-prazdnovaniia-povedy.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, a philatelic program has been implemented in the Russian Federation since 2016, which includes the issue of postage stamps of the Way to Victory series, reflecting key events of the Great Patriotic War, a series of postal envelopes with the original stamp On the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. ”, dedicated to the anniversaries of famous military figures and military leaders, as well as important events of the Great Patriotic War.
In May 2020, a postal block will be issued for the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
JSC Russian Post is implementing the Book of Heroes project, a long-term project for the Russian Post Youth Council. Victory mail book has overcome more than two-thirds of the way and is preparing for an early presentation. This one-of-a-kind manuscript publication at the end of February - the beginning of March 2020 was replenished with the stories of front-line postmen of the North-West macroregion and now went to Kaluga Region.
As soon as all branches of the Center macroregion make entries on the pages of the book, activists of the Youth Council of the Russian Post will transfer it to the final destination - Moscow. Now the publication contains the rarest archival photographs and more than 60 stories about the exploits of mailers during the Great Patriotic War, memories of veterans of the communications industry, children of the war and those who were involved in the mail of the 40s.
For example, one of the heroines of the Victory Mail Book is Antonina Sergeyevna Glomadova. She was born in May 1924, and in 1942 she came to work in the post office 193076 in Leningrad. For 38 years, she worked a long way from assistant chief to the head of the department. Especially for the book, she told unusual stories of her work at the front-line post office in besieged Leningrad.
The Youth Council project will end in May 2020 on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Victory. After the presentation, the book will be transferred to the capital's Postal Museum.