The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact marked two years of cooperation between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, from its signing on Aug. 23, 1939, to June 22, 1941, when the Nazi invasion turned the two powers into bitter and bloody war combatants.
The 1939 non-aggression pact, named after Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and Nazi German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, led to the division of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence between the Nazis and Soviets.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact ceded Lviv and much of western Ukraine, then part of Poland, to the Soviets. The Nazis, who invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, turned the city of Lviv over to Soviet troops on Sept. 17 of that year.
The unhappy anniversary was remembered 71 years later in Lviv’s Market Square, with a reenactment by local residents of the takeover by celebrating Soviet soldiers , a bitter reminder of Josef Stalin’s cooperation with the jubilant Nazis, who rode their motorcycles and roamed in local pubs as Red Army soldiers drank vodka and distributed propaganda.
The actual historical meeting of Nazi and Soviet soldiers in Lviv is shown in this photograph.
Ribbentrop (back, left) stands next to Stalin (back, second from left) as Molotov signs the Nazi-Soviet pact.
The dream of Ukrainian national independence would have to be deferred until Aug. 24, 1991.
