Participation in the immortal. Immortal Regiment: useful information for those who want to participate. What is the meaning of movement
Almost every day someone calls me and asks for information about the upcoming march of the “Immortal Regiment” on May 9th. I decided to select the available information and introduce you to it.
Do I need to register somewhere?
No - registration to participate in the Ekaterinburg “Immortal Regiment” is not required. To join the procession, you need to come on foot (cyclists and rollerbladers can observe the movement of the regiment, but not participate in it), lightly (for safety reasons, people with trunks, large bags, glass containers will not be allowed into the columns), leaving pets at home and taking with him a portrait of a participant in the Great Patriotic War.
How and where to take a portrait?
You can make it yourself or in a photo studio - from the partners of the promotion. The portrait should depict a soldier of the Great Patriotic War, his first and last name, and possibly the rank in which he served. I note that the size of the poster should be within reason - it should not block others. You can also come with a regular photo of a front-line soldier or a group photo. A single standard was developed only for “beauty”...
If you want to make a portrait in the same style of the campaign, where you are ready to print a photo of your soldier at a minimum price of 400 rubles. However, you need to hurry: in a number of salons, portraits are accepted until May 1, or at most until May 4. It takes several days to make, so if you haven't made a poster yet, it's best to make one today.
What else should I take with me?
Keep in mind that you will have to spend several hours: from forming a column and waiting for the procession to marching in the parade line. According to the Gismeteo service, on May 9 in Yekaterinburg it will be cloudy and rainy, the air temperature will be about 6 degrees Celsius. The forecast is subject to change, but be sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring a rain jacket and drinking water. Don't forget your passport (just in case).
"Immortal Regiment", held in major cities Far East, set an incredible record: more than 210 thousand people took part in the festive marches. According to information from the press services of the governments of the Far Eastern regions, the most massive actions were in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, where 50 thousand people marched through the central squares as part of the “Immortal Regiment”.
The Immortal Regiment took place on 31 municipal formation Primorsky Territory, as well as in Yakutia: there the popular action gathered more than 30 thousand people, with the head of Yakutia Yegor Borisov leading the way.
My dear uncles, my mother’s older brothers Stepan Ilyich and Yegor Ilyich Makarov - they died a heroic death on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War as very young boys. Today I am walking with their portraits in the ranks of the Immortal Regiment, because the memory of them is alive, TASS quotes Borisov.
The cold and windy weather of the Arctic did not prevent us from setting a record in the smallest region in terms of population in the Far East - Chukotka: two and a half thousand people came out to the “Immortal Regiment” with portraits of participants in the Great Patriotic War.
Siberia
A record 270 thousand people joined the Immortal Regiment in Novosibirsk. According to information from regiment coordinator Irina Rudkovskaya, the action participants began gathering at the starting point of the procession at 8 a.m., and by the time the movement began, the Immortal Regiment column had stretched for two kilometers.
Participants in the procession, carrying portraits of their soldiers, continued to move for almost two hours. According to estimates by volunteers and observers, the number of participants this year was 270 thousand people. Along the route, the participants of the “Immortal Regiment” were greeted by about 30 thousand spectators. Youth and people with disabilities, families with children and the elderly - everyone who cherishes the memory of their soldiers today stood shoulder to shoulder, regardless of the weather, in the ranks of the “Immortal Regiment,” the official website of the action quotes the coordinator of the action in Novosibirsk.
The action in Tomsk was supported by about twenty thousand citizens: the procession passed along the central avenue of Tomsk from Novosobornaya Square to the Camp Garden, where members of the “Immortal Regiment” laid flowers Eternal Flame and steles with the names of heroes.
The rallies in Norilsk and Barnaul attracted at least fifty thousand participants, another three and a half thousand Russians marched in a column of the “Immortal Regiment” in Gorno-Altaisk:
Perm region
In Perm, more than 40 thousand citizens joined the Immortal Regiment. This is already the fifth event for Perm residents; the organizers of the event note that every year more and more people participate in the “Immortal Regiment”.
Participants of the action walked with portraits of participants in the Great Patriotic War along Komsomolsky Prospekt, crossed Oktyabrskaya Square and turned towards the Theater. Folk festivities in honor of Victory Day continue here.
Processions also took place in Berezniki, Vereshchagino, Dobryanka, Krasnokamsk, Kuedinsky district, Kungur and Kungursky district, Lysva, Osa, Ocher, Yayva and Zvezdny, Berezovka, Solikamsk, Usolye and Tchaikovsky.
“This is a civil initiative of those for whom it is important to preserve family stories about the exploits of relatives who brought Victory closer at the front or in the rear. Everyone will be able to say “thank you” to their relatives by marching in the column of the “Immortal Regiment” on May 9,” note the organizers of the action.
Crimea
The procession of the “Immortal Regiment” took place in Sevastopol: more than 30 thousand citizens carried portraits of their relatives who died during the Great Patriotic War.
The procession started from the Lenin Komsomol square, then the column walked along Lenin Street to the central ring of the city, reports the Sevastopol news portal.
Head of the Department of Public Communications of Sevastopol Andrey Perla noted that in the events, dedicated to the Day Victory was attended by more than 400 veterans from Sevastopol and other cities who arrived in the city especially for the holiday.
Krasnodar region
More than 70 thousand Sochi residents marched as part of the “Immortal Regiment” along Kurortny Prospekt, carrying in their hands photographs of their loved ones - participants in the Great Patriotic War.
The procession began from Lawn Street, proceeding along Victory-Sofia Square to the Victory Monument, and then along the embankment to the eternal flame.
The organizer of the memorial event in Novgorod region The Novgorod branch of the All-Russian public civil-patriotic movement “Immortal Regiment of Russia” spoke. According to representatives of the movement, the goal of the action is “to foster a sense of respect for the heroic past of Russia, to form patriotic, moral values and an active life position among young people and the younger generation, and to introduce new forms of work on civic-patriotic education of the population.”
Karelia
In Petrozavodsk, as part of the celebration of the 72nd anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the “Immortal Regiment” was also held, which turned into a festive folk festival “Keeping the Faith in Holy Courage!”
Acting Head of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Elissan Shandalovich were part of the “Regiment” column.
“I’m here for the same reason as thousands of residents of Karelia,” Parfenchikov noted. - Every family has its own military history. The elders in our family all fought. My children are holding the photo of my grandfathers: Nastya and Yaroslav. Parfenchikov Anton Osipovich, commander of the subversive group, unfortunately, having gone through most of the war, went missing in June 1944. A serious tragedy for our family. And Ivan Dmitrievich, my mother’s father, was a driver on the road of life, he was wounded, and after being wounded he was discharged. He was with us until ’75, I remember him well.”
The war left a terrible bloody trail for every family. It’s wonderful that there are so many people, young people. Every year the regiment gets bigger and bigger. One thing can be said: our grandfathers did not fight in vain. Life goes on, I'm sure it will get better every day. Peaceful life must be protected and preserved. These are difficult times. But our grandfathers have worthy grandchildren, they continue to defend our homeland. The war left us a lesson: the enemy cannot be allowed into the house, he must be destroyed at the borders. Or better yet, in his lair. This is what our soldiers are doing in Syria. Let us wish them to return home alive and be worthy of the feat of their grandfathers, the Republic of Karelia agency quotes Parfenchikov.
Yaroslavl region
The column of the “Immortal Regiment” in Yaroslavl consisted of more than ten thousand citizens.
Over the past few years, the tradition of participation in the Immortal Regiment has been gaining momentum among Russian residents who lost their loved ones in terrible war of the past century. A decisive advantage over any other initiatives - its origin among the people, allows us to consider the Immortal Regiment as a promising and unifying event.
For everyone who had a relative who participated in the Second World War, it becomes a place of memory. On the one hand, the connection between the person carrying the photograph and the one depicted on the banner is visible, on the other hand, those people who are not alive are visible in the procession. Some died during the war and did not live to see victory, while others left quite recently. Alas, veterans - and this is becoming more noticeable every year - are gradually leaving this world. Along with them could go the memory of how much was lost in the war, how much had to be restored, how important it was that the horror and nightmare of the war years should not be repeated. The memory of veterans, and now the memory of veterans, does not allow us to forget the main thing - we need to remember how terrible and merciless the war was and we need to be glad that it is over, we need to be grateful to those who went through this terrible ordeal. The Immortal Regiment allows us to preserve this memory, which is as important as it is terrible for many people.
What does the tradition of the Immortal Regiment provide?
In its uniqueness, the Immortal Regiment becomes the bonding and unifying tradition that gives the annual Victory Parade new life. On May 9, Victory Day, the focus has always been on the people who took part in the war. They remain in the center even now, thanks to the continuity of generations. It is here that the words that it is difficult to find a family in which there are no victims of the war are illustrated by the impressive number of people who come out to the procession in memory of their ancestors. In their hands they hold banners with a photograph and the name of their family member - and this action becomes extremely important, both within the individual family and within the entire country. The feeling of unity, community, which passes through years and generations, becomes an important emotional sign of this movement. The action of the Immortal Regiment attracts attention with the spirit of uniting the most different people in memories of their ancestors. Thus, in the 2015 parade, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, took part in the Immortal Regiment.
What is the meaning of movement
The Immortal Regiment has a clear and simple task- to keep the memory of the participants of the Second World War in the hearts of descendants, to pay tribute to the people who brought our people the Great Victory over fascism.
Each participant who takes to the streets of the city with a photograph of a relative becomes living evidence that memory is much longer than people’s lives, and it is preserved by descendants, even after the death of the war participants.
How to get involved
In order to become a participant in the procession, you don’t have to make incredible efforts. If the people's Immortal Regiment is expected to pass through your city, you just need to find out where and at what time the column starts. Since the association is national, there are no special requirements for appearance No.
It is important to understand that movement in a column can be quite long in time - not everyone 
a person, especially at an advanced age, can withstand it. In this regard, you should calculate your strength.
In case there is a person whose memory you would like to honor by participating in the Immortal Regiment, but there is no strength to go the entire route of the procession, you can resort to the services of volunteers. As a rule, in cities where the procession is held, public youth patriotic organizations offer assistance to children who join the Immortal Regiment, helping to carry banners to those who do not have the strength to do so.
In addition, such organizations present in the procession portraits of those people who have no relatives left or who have not been found.
Thus, there is an opportunity to join the procession as a volunteer.
You should prepare in advance to participate in the procession. Fortunately, the long-celebrated Victory Day always takes place on May 9 and, as a rule, the location of all ceremonial events is known in advance.
The main thing, of course, is to have a photograph depicting a participant in the Great Patriotic War. For the banner, the photo will need to be enlarged. In some large cities, on the eve of Victory Day, they organize points where they can help you process (scan, enlarge and print) photographs completely free of charge. If there are no such points in your city, you will have to cope on your own. Such photo processing services are usually provided in any photo studio.
You must bring a ready-made banner with a photo pasted on it to the starting point of the parade. The need for a banner lies in the fact that it will be more convenient to carry the photograph, its visibility increases, and the degree of interference for surrounding people decreases. However, if there is no other choice, you can just take a photograph with you.
It is important to make the image large enough for visibility
The Immortal Regiment is represented not only by the procession on May 9. There is also a website on which everyone is invited to post a photo of their relative, as well as a story about him. It is worth noting that this part of the organization is also important for its function, because by and large a whole database of stories is collected 
people who once accomplished a great feat. And each of the relatives of these people can write their own history, preserving memories for centuries.
In short, there are very few conditions for participation in the Immortal Regiment. It will only be enough to make a banner with a photograph of a relative (who fought for the freedom of our Motherland) and come with it to the parade on Victory Day. But the effects that this procession, which is already becoming an annual event, generates are obvious and numerous. People feel, on the one hand, their participation in the tradition of the entire state, on the other hand, the procession becomes a personal story for each participant who decided to honor the memory of their warring ancestors. With each new year, more and more participating cities appear that join the Immortal Regiment - presumably, the tradition can take hold and become an important stage in the celebration of Victory Day.
Video of the Immortal procession in Moscow
1. The Immortal Regiment considers its main task to preserve in each family the personal memory of the generation of the Great Patriotic War.
2. Participation in the Immortal Regiment implies that everyone who remembers and honors their relative - an army and navy veteran, a partisan, an underground fighter, a Resistance fighter, a home front worker, a prisoner of a concentration camp, a siege survivor, a child of war - on May 9 takes to the streets of the city with his( her) photograph or, if there is no photograph, with his (her) name, in order to take part in the parade in the column of the Immortal Regiment, or to independently pay tribute to the memory by bringing a banner with a portrait, name, or photograph to the Eternal Flame or other memorial place. Participation in the Immortal Regiment is strictly voluntary.
3. “Immortal Regiment” - Non-profit, Non-political, Non-state Civil Initiative. Every citizen can join the ranks of the Regiment, regardless of religion, nationality, political and other views. The Immortal Regiment unites people. Anything that serves others is unacceptable to us. One country - one regiment.
4. The Immortal Regiment cannot be an image platform. The use of any corporate, political or other symbols* in anything related to the Immortal Regiment is excluded.
5. The regiment cannot be personalized in any, even the most respected person: politician, public figure(including historical), official. The regiment is millions of those who have left and their descendants.
6. Coordination and assistance in holding the parade of the May 9 Regiment is carried out by the headquarters of the Immortal Regiment, which, along with the organizers of the Civil Initiative on May 9, 2012, includes organizations and citizens who certainly share the provisions of the Charter and have expressed their readiness to become coordinators of the Regiment in their region.
7. In order to preserve the Charter, resolve controversial issues, express the collective opinion of the cities of the Civil Initiative, the Open Council of the Regiment was formed. Any coordinator who has experience in conducting the Immortal Regiment in his region in accordance with the principles of the Charter can enter it by declaring his desire.
8. Changes and additions to the Charter can be made by decision of the majority of cities of the Open Council of the Regiment.
9. Our ultimate goal is to turn the Immortal Regiment into a nationwide tradition of celebrating Victory Day on May 9.
* Symbols: logos, emblems, names, corporate identity, etc. on any media (including a portrait of a soldier).
“Now I’m an elderly young man, but once I was an October student. On May 9, counselor Ira took us to the monument to those who died in the war, to give flowers to veterans. The whole class went. Then, in the courtyards, we still played “Germans” and “ ours.” And they knew what the war was like, with whom. And not only from books and movies.
We often learned things about her that weren’t written in books from our grandfather or grandmother, from our neighbor in the stairwell who drank away everything except the Order of the Red Banner, from the strong people who came to schools every year for “courage lessons,” then not even old people, but simply very grown men rare professions: gunner-radio operator, loader, sapper... And they quite accurately imagined that this was a difficult Victory. For which my grandfather gave both legs, and many millions of Soviet soldiers - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians, Kazakhs, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Moldovans, Estonians, Uzbeks, Jews, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Kalmyks..., many other peoples - their life. Therefore, it was not surprising to us when, in addition to the living victors, at the Eternal Flame on May 9, we also saw photographs of fallen soldiers that veterans brought with them. And they drank the “People’s Commissars” hundred grams both for the dead and for the living. For those who are not forgotten and those who will not forget.
It was a long time ago. In another time and another country. Where we live today. And the yards and games are different now.
And Victory Day has also changed. There are almost no veterans left, another two or three years will pass, and who will our children see at the Eternal Flame? With this question spoken out loud, what today has become the Immortal Regiment began.
We did not and do not consider ourselves “the authors of the idea.” We didn't invent anything that didn't happen at least once. Then, in our childhood, or, as we learned after May 2012, in some cities of Russia before us, where people alone or, as in Tyumen in 2007, a whole column of schoolchildren, carried photographs of soldiers to the Eternal Flame. In 2006, in Ukhta, on Victory Day, children brought out portraits of soldiers.
In Sevastopol in May 2009, a march “We will replace you in the ranks!” took place.
Yes, it’s not only in Russia that stories similar to Polk happened. In Jerusalem in 1999, on Victory Day, citizens brought out portraits of their soldiers. And there were also Omsk and Pskov, the villages of Stavropol and many others. In Solikamsk, back in 1985, women walked with portraits of their husbands and brothers through the streets on Victory Day.
The oldest one now famous stories, related to the Immortal Regiment, happened in Novosibirsk. In the first year of the official celebration of the Victory, in 1965, children from school 121 came out with portraits of their fathers - front-line soldiers.
But how can this impulse of different people be made into a folk tradition? Such that our children would remember it and pass it on to their own. And how can we bring together on this day all of us, divided by life into rich and poor, into parties and confessions, into right and left? As a response, the Charter of the Immortal Regiment appeared, ethical principles that brought together millions of people.
Of course, we started the Polk with ourselves, with the media. The participation of our colleagues - radio operators, television workers, newspaper men - in the creation of the Regiment is not accidental. The fact that the Regiment became an international movement is the merit of the first coordinators - journalists who spoke about the Regiment in dozens of cities and villages in Russia. The Immortal Regiment is, in principle, a provincial story. Born in Siberia, raised in the outback. Not lowered from above. Thanks for it to those who supported the Tomsk history of the Immortal Regiment in Tula and Kostroma, Novosibirsk and Kurgan, Vologda and Volgograd, Irkutsk and Blagoveshchensk, Providence Bay and Krasnodar, wherever today Victory Day became the day family memory. Both in Russia and outside our Motherland.
We need to talk to people about what is really important. And it is important for us to be ONE people. At least once a year. Our grandfathers were connected by one trench. Let us, thanks to them, be alive and therefore different, and stand in ONE REGIMENT on May 9th. Let us stand together with those whose bright faces should return to our streets on this day, with photographs of our relatives, near and far. Let us stand without party flags and pompous speeches of politicians, without ambitions. In a human way, proudly. Full height. How THEY rose to attack, often the last one."
Sergey Lapenkov, on behalf of the coordinators of the civil initiative “Immortal Regiment”.
The main task of the Immortal Regiment is to preserve in every Russian family the memory of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. Participation in the Immortal Regiment means that everyone who remembers and honors their army and navy veteran, partisan, underground fighter, resistance fighter, home front worker, concentration camp prisoner, on May 9 goes out onto the city streets with a photograph of a soldier to take part in the parade in the Immortal column shelf, or pay tribute to memory yourself by bringing a photograph to the Eternal Flame or other memorable place. Our ultimate goal is to turn the Immortal Regiment into a nationwide tradition of celebrating Victory Day on May 9.
1. What do you need to do to take part in the May 9 Parade as part of the Immortal Regiment?
First, you need to look in your home archives or on third-party sources for the name of your soldier, military rank and some other data. Then try to register it on the Immortal Regiment website. The most important and important step in participating in the action is making a sign with a portrait and data of a soldier and showing up at the beginning of the May 9 Parade in our city.
2. Help me find information about my grandfather, a war veteran, is there no information left in the family?
We do not do search work, but we can tell you from which open sources you can obtain information about your relative who participated in the Great Patriotic War.
The most complete information is contained in the “Find a Soldier” section. At the bottom of the page there is a presentation that can be downloaded. There you can find information on how and where to search.
There are two websites prepared using the Ministry of Defense databases. Fuller of them in free access nothing exists. Mistakes are, of course, possible. The sites are valuable because they contain scanned copies of documents.
5. Can I enroll not my grandfather in the Immortal Regiment, but my grandmother, who fought? Certainly! Not only is it possible, but it is also necessary. As well as father, great-grandfather and other front-line relatives. 6. Which regiment should I enroll my grandfather in if he was called up from a city where there is no “Immortal Regiment”? You can enroll a front-line soldier in the regiment of your city, or, if there is none in your city, in the section ‘Russian Federation, Russia’.
7. Maybepassing in the ranks without registering your grandfather on the site? Of course, take a photo or a pillar and come to the formation.
8. Where to do itpillarwith a portrait for the “Immortal Regiment”? To find out the addresses of partner salons, you need to contact the organizer in your city. The coordinates of the organizers can be found on the website moypolk.ru in the section “Regimental Headquarters”. 9. Can I join the “Immortal Regiment” just with a photograph? If you do it yourselfpillarwhat size should it be?
People should see the faces of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. If you carry a photograph, few will see it. Especially in a column. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you come to the “Immortal Regiment” column with a photo on pillars (sticks). Make them yourself or order them at order centers. You can come with a photo, but it is better to enlarge it. The recommended size is approximately A4 format (20x30 cm). In case of bad weather, it is better to roll it up in laminate.
10. Whatwhat to do if you don’t have a photo of your front-line soldier? If your photo album does not contain photographs of a front-line soldier, you can make a sign on which the NAME, SURNAME, PATRONIC NAME and military rank will be written. With this sign you can also join the ranks of the “Immortal Regiment”.
11. Where and when will the construction take place in my city? Do I need to register in advance? There is no need to sign up in advance, just come with a portrait of a front-line soldier to the formation. The organizers inform the media of your city in advance about the place and time, and it will also be posted on the website moypolk.ru. If you do not find this information, contact the organizers in your city.