Victory Day Celebration in Kazan
KAZAN – FISU will organise its Executive Committee Meeting in the city of Kazan at the end of this week (from Friday to Sunday). The FISU Staff already present in Kazan is working on the preparation of this meeting.
But today was a special day as we were all invited to participate in the Victory Day Celebration. This is an important moment for the population of Kazan.
Eric Saintrond, the FISU Secretary-General/CEO was invited to make a speech at this very special occasion.
“Dear Mr President of the Republic of Tatarstan,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today we are celebrating together the Victory Day. A victory which played in 1945 an essential role for the future of our society.
World War II cost the former Soviet Union heavy toll with an unclear number of victims, despite the latest studies mentioning some 24 to 26 million of war dead.
The Republic of Tatarstan also suffered in this war, during which over
300,000 Tatars died.
Tatarstan played also a key role in providing the army with military equipment, and there is no doubt that without such logistical support the victory would have been more difficult.
The soldiers were aged 18 to 20 when they left their families to go to the front.
A great number of them never came back.
Our thoughts go to those young people who sacrificed their lives to save the world from Nazism and to all the veterans who are honoured today.
We will never forget the sacrifice of all those young people since thanks to them sports fields have replaced battlefields in the Russian Federation today; victories are now based on sweat and no more on blood.
However we should remain vigilant and provide our youth with an education oriented towards open-mindedness, friendship and tolerance. Those are the new weapons that we should give them so that the mistakes and suffering of the past will never happen again.”
(By Yvan Dufour, FISU Chief Editor)
Vladimir Leonov (left), General Director of the Kazan 2013 Universiade OC with Eric Saintrond, FISU Secretary General / CEO
Veterans from World War 2 were celebrated this morning