Yefim Pivovar, Head of the RSUH
The International History and Cultural Forum headlined “The Victory Achieved by Unity” will take place in Kursk on April 29th. Representatives of all of the former republics of the Soviet Union will take part in this – veterans, politicians, scientists, representatives of youth organizations. It is an important detail. Initiators managed to gather representatives of all nations who gained the difficult victory at battlefields and in reverse – from the Baltic States to Turkmenistan without exceptions.
Unfortunately, since the dissolution of the USSR a lot has changed in scientific and social perception of the great and tragic events. In textbooks of some countries of the Commonwealth one could not find such a notion as “the Great Patriotic War.” It is replaced by a meager phrase - Our republic in the years of the Second World War. The dissolution of the great country could not but influence perception of our common history. For some people it is not a common history anymore, others want to “privatize” their part of the victory and pull it apart. I believe this is a way to nowhere, as according to public opinion polls, the only two dates of the history of the 20th century are positively perceived in most of the countries of the former USSR. By this I mean May 9th and April 12th. The victory and the flight into space are the only dates which unite the whole space of our common history.
Is it important for our states and societies to revive the feeling of common pride and belonging to great historic events? This is a rhetorical question. Of course it is one of the most important factors for the preservation of a respectful and friendly attitude to each other between our countries, as well as inside our countries. The Ukrainian example shows what can happen, if different regions of a state honor different heroes.
To avoid disintegration of the common space of historic memory, we need meetings similar to the one which will take place in several days in Kursk. Less and less veterans are still with us and such meetings between young people and those who survived in the Kursk Salient and Stalingrad are very valuable. They can tell young journalists and historians about the true friendship of nations.
