As part of their drive against the practice of religion, Soviet leaders did their best to discourage the observance of Christmas but the people’s lingering love of the holiday and the need for social unity in the fight against the Nazi invasion, led the Kremlin create a pseudo-Christmas centred on New Year’s. Thus the Christmas tree became the New Year’s tree, Christmas cards became New Year’s cards, gifts were exchanged on January 1, and St Nicholas was replaced by the secular Des Moroz, or Grandfather Frost. Because the Soviet state had converted to the Gregorian calendar while the Orthodox Church clung to the Julian calendar, the Communist New Year celebrations took place BEFORE Orthodox Christmas. This allowed the state to provide holiday goodies for January 1 but cut off the supplies for Christmas on January 7.
A number of New Year’s cards published during the war show a very militant Grandfather Frost routing the German invaders.
The caption reads: ‘Grandfather Frost Makes a Fearsome Tour To Get The Entire Pack of Fascists To Disappear Forever Soon’
