On Friday, April 23, the International scientific conference, “Common Victory: towards the 65th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” was opened.
The president of the Russian State Humanitarian University, Efim Pivovar, gave the opening speech. In his report, he spoke about the problems faced by historians who study the history of World War II, and pointed out the necessity for a comprehensive and detailed study of all available materials relevant to the history and events of the war period. Mr. Pivovar believes that only such detailed studies that can prevent the various attempts made to distort history.
Executive director of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, Viacheslav Nikonov has noted the general ignorance of history and consequences of the Second World War shown by many people today, and their failure to understand the role of this most important period of the 20th century in world history. To make matters worse, some people go even further, trying to distort facts and actual information about this war – deliberately. “In the West, there is still misunderstanding as to who fought against whom, and in fact, many people in the West do not even realize that 90 percent of all German divisions were crushed on the Eastern front,” emphasized the executive director of Russkiy Mir.
The study World War II history largely depends on national priorities of a particular country. Viacheslav Nikonov believes that the consequences of such approaches are evident, and they are nothing but a distortion of historic realities to suit certain political ambitions. Surely, such approaches should be addressed.
Viacheslav Nikonov spoke about the events associated with the celebration of the 65th Anniversary of the Victory, organized or promoted by the Russkiy Mir Foundation. The main activity on this list is a campaign called "Russkiy Mir – Memories of the Heart” the participants of which contribute their materials, such as essays, biographies, poems and photos about veterans and military topics. Russkiy Mir also promotes such large all-Russia memorial campaigns as the “St. George Ribbon” and “Hurrah for the Victory” that are also aimed at preserving the memories of great heroism of the Russian people. “We must do everything to prevent them from stealing this Victory, our Victory,” underlined the director of Russkiy Mir.
The conference at the university will continue until April 24. Besides the strictly scientific issues, its participants will also discuss questions regarding the celebration of the Anniversary of the End of WWII in CIS countries, and the use of Great Patriotic War topics in training and educational activities.
On April 24, a roundtable discussion on the topic “The Great Patriotic War – Transforming Social Memory in Research and Teaching” will be held within the framework of the conference.
