2020 brought our country, just as the whole world, a serious challenge in the form of the pandemic. It is now all the more important to remember what serious challenges our country went through during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Back then our people were able to gain Victory. The preservation and protection of the historical memory of the Great Victory is our duty and obligation.
During this year numerous events have been organized, among which were exploratory expeditions, and museum and exhibition projects. New historical places were discovered all around the country, drawing attention to the history of the Great Victory, linking historical memory with the geography of the country. Thus, one of the symbols of the Year of Memory and Glory was the Rzhev memorial to the Soviet soldier. This monument became truly the people’s, the country’s citizens donating over 500 million rubles to build it.76 Starting this year, Russian had the honorary title of “City of Labor Valor,” which was bestowed in recognition of the significant contribution of a number of cities to achieving victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
As a part of the Year of Memory and Glory, numerous projects were realized with the participation of youth volunteers. Despite many commemorative events were conducted online due to restrictive measures, the Russian public demonstrated its loyalty to the feat of the people in that Great War. New formats allowed the audience not only to not shrink, but even to grow.77 Thus, for example, even times of restrictive measures saw the success of the Window of Victory campaign, in which citizens decorated the windows of their flats and houses with pictures, photographs and signs dedicated to the victory of the Soviet people over fascism.78 We must develop and support such patriotic initiatives and projects as: My Childhood – War,79 Letter of Victory,80 Garden of Memory,81 Victory Fact Test,82 and the Victory Volunteers youth forum.83
With the passage of time, fewer and fewer participants of the Great Patriotic War remain – approximately 60 thousand this year.84 The debt of Russian society and government to their heroes is to provide a worthy life. The all-Russia project “Mobile assistance teams for disabled people and veterans”885 provides them with free mobile telephones with unlimited tariffs, and the Victory Volunteers help them with everything they need during the pandemic, most importantly documenting their invaluable memories and experience for future generations.86
According to census survey data, at present Russia is home to 24.3 million people aged from 15 to 29, which is 16.5% of the whole population of the country.87 The vast majority have no experience of personal interaction with veterans, so a very important problem is how to instill in them a reverential attitude to the Great Victory. New formats and new solutions must be sought. One such solution for developing a patriotic attitude is the all-Russia Passing the Torch to the New Generation project. During the pandemic, Passing the Torch to the New Generation project conducts educational events online, organizes lessons in fortitude, and provides targeted aid to veterans.88 One more example is the People’s Feat exhibition in the Victory Museum at Victory Park in Moscow. It is full of interactive and multimedia elements, allowing children and teenagers to immerse themselves in this important subject.
In order to instill patriotism, important amendments were made this year to the “On Education”, according to which, from 1 September 2020 the educational process at all levels includes mentoring element designed to instill patriotism in students, the necessity for the return of which has been discussed for a long time in society.89 New approaches to working with young people must be carefully considered in developing the federal Patriotic Education of Citizens project, which will be part of the Education national project.
The importance of preserving the historical memory is now fixed in the Constitution. “The Russian Federation honors the memory of defenders of the Fatherland, and protects historical truth. Belittling the significance of the people’s feat in defending the Fatherland shall not be permitted”, asserts part 3 of article 67.1 of the Main Law.
We must not leave unpunished attempts to mock symbols of our memory – desecration of the Eternal Flame and attempts to post photographs of fascists on the online Immortal Regiment platform, just as we must not leave unanswered pseudohistorical rhetoric concerning the weighty contribution made to the Great Victory by the countries of the West, diminishing or concealing the role of our country, and sometimes blasphemously equating the actions of the USSR with the actions of fascist Germany. Under no circumstance must we be allowed to forget who was tried at Nuremberg trial and for what. On November 20–21, 2020, the Lessons of Nuremberg Forum was held at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. The Forum discussed the Long, Long Ago project, which united NPOs, museum employees, prosecutors and investigators, whose task was to show, based precisely on archived documents, the scale of the criminal offences and wicked deeds carried out by the Nazis and their co-conspirators during World War II. This work was vital for the preservation and protection of the historical memory, especially for the young generation.
Work concerning the uncovering and opposition of the dissemination of historical fakery and provocation must be done methodically and persistently. Patriotic social associations and organizations, and civic activists were working on uncovering historical falsifications and managing to suppress them. The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation served as a platform for the exchange of opinion and the realization of projects aimed at fighting the falsification of history. Thus, the Civic Chamber developed proposals to introduce fines and other sanctions for unprincipled producers and/ or disseminators of advertising materials containing distorted information about historical facts, and participants in wartime events, etc.
The preservation and protection of the memory of the Great Victory is a basis for the consolidation of Russian civil society. It is necessary to provide full government social support for veterans of the Great Patriotic War and all our other military veterans. We must comprehensively support social projects connected with assisting veterans, and the historical enlightenment of the youth about the Great Victory and the struggle with the falsification of our history must be the basis for educational and mentoring programs.
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