17 July 1944 · Day 1122 of 1418

The “Parade of the Defeated”

Garden Ring, Moscow

prisoners were marched through Moscow

57,600

prisoners were marched through Moscow

generals led the column

19

generals led the column

The enemy had promised to march through Moscow, and it did, but not as planned. On 17 July 1944, 57,000 prisoners captured in Belarus were marched through the capital. Muscovites watched in silence. Behind the column came street-cleaning trucks, washing the roads.

The column was marched along the Garden Ring and other streets, led by generals captured in Belarus. Muscovites, among them people who had lost their families in the war, lined the streets almost in silence, watching those who had brought war to their land.

The march showed the whole world how badly the enemy had been defeated in Belarus.