Victory Day is a holiday that commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. It was first inaugurated in the 15 republics of the Soviet Union following the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender late in the evening on 8 May 1945 (9 May Moscow Time). The Soviet government announced the victory early on 9 May after the signing ceremony in Berlin. Although the official inauguration occurred in 1945, the holiday became a non-labor day only in 1965, and only in certain Soviet republics.

The German Instrument of Surrender was signed twice. An initial document was signed in Reims on 7 May 1945 by Alfred Jodl (chief of staff of the German OKW) for Germany, Walter Bedell Smith, on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and Ivan Susloparov, on behalf of the Soviet High Command, in the presence of French Major-General François Sevez as the official witness.

Since the Soviet High Command had not agreed to the text of the surrender, and because Susloparov, a relatively low-ranking officer, was not authorized to sign this document, the Soviet Union requested that a second, revised, instrument of surrender be signed in Berlin.

A second surrender ceremony was organized in a surviving manor in the outskirts of Berlin late on 8 May, when it was already 9 May in Moscow due to the difference in time zones.

During the Soviet Union’s existence, 9 May was celebrated throughout it and in the Eastern Bloc. Though the holiday was introduced in many Soviet republics between 1946 and 1950, it became a non-working day only in the Ukrainian SSR in 1963 and the Russian SFSR in 1965

The celebration of Victory Day continued during subsequent years. The war became a topic of great importance in cinema, literature, history lessons at school, the mass media, and the arts. The ritual of the celebration gradually obtained a distinctive character with a number of similar elements: ceremonial meetings, speeches, lectures, receptions and fireworks.

Victory Day in modern Russia has become a celebration in which popular culture plays a central role. The 60th and 70th anniversaries of Victory Day in Russia (2005 and 2015) became the largest popular holidays since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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  • Bat [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    5 months ago

    i’ve come to the realization that i enjoy nothing in my life

    i play video games but i hate them and get bored and or frustrated very quickly

    i’m in college but i hate all my classes and do the absolute bare minimum needed to pass

    i spent most of my time on here reddit or 4chan and all of them suck

    everything i do i do just to kill time until it’s time for me to go to sleep, but i don’t even enjoy that because the vast majority of my dreams are bad

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      So… that sounds like anhedonia, a symptom of fairly severe depression. Ever been evaluated for depression? Sucks to try to get started when you are depressed, but it might be worth going down to the student health center and seeing if they can get you an initial assessment.

      • Bat [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        5 months ago

        i got diagnosed with depression years ago

        i was on and off antidepressants for a while when i was first diagnosed but they just made things worse

        i thought starting hrt and transition would make things better but it only did for a very short period of time and i’m back to where i was

        i’ve been to the student health center but they weren’t much help. but then again i wasn’t super honest about everything with them since i don’t want to get sent to a psych ward

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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          5 months ago

          Oh shit i feel that. I’ve lied on every single “have you ever considered hurting yourself” question on every psych inventory i’ve taken for decades. If therapists want honesty they need to decouple from the carceral system.

          I’m honest about everything, but on any question related to the S word i lie with a smile on my face. It lets me get help while giving me some protection against being sectioned.

          Student health systems can be rubbish. You might look around to see if there’s a free or sliding scale clinic in your area, sometimes they exist and can help. Psych drugs suck ass. I had to go through many different ones before i found a couple that help with some of my symptoms. It was worth it in the end but ugh it was miserable.

    • Moss [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      Do you spend much time with other people? I’ve been in those circumstances too, like those things exactly, and I usually find that spending time with others makes me feel a lot better. Its a lot less predictable and boring, even when I’m not with friends.

      If you have friends around, I’d recommend reaching out to them and trying to organise any kind of socialisation as often as you feel you can. If you don’t have any friends around, try looking for clubs and societies around you.

      Also I find that when I’m doing something productive I feel better than when I’m not. Creative things are great, like writing and drawing, but sometimes I’m feeling shit and don’t have any inspiration, so then I bake some bread or go swimming or do a workout. It feels a lot better to do something with your hands and see a tangible product or do some exercise and feel tired than to sit in front of a computer.

      I hope any of this is useful to you. The worst loops I get in are when I don’t look forward to anything and don’t want to do anything, so I don’t do anything and then end up feeling miserable for not doing anything. Taking that step to break the loop and do something that will make my body feel good, even if in my mind it feels like it won’t, helps me.

    • niph [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      Sorry to hear things are rough comrade. I saw you spoke about depression, but it could also be worth looking into if you have any underlying conditions like attention or sleep issues. Your description of college life sounds a lot like mine was and if I had known about ADHD back then I feel like my life trajectory would be very different. Not that I think everyone has it or anything! But always worth looking to see if there might be something deeper causing depressive symptoms. Hope things improve soon!