World War II needs protection against fraud

To ensure that the Great Patriotic War is preserved in the memory of generations such as it was, and not distorted, today, almost 69 years after the victory, a powerful wave of information is needed for protecting the most important pages of Russian history of the 20th century from arbitrary and malicious interpretations - the chairman of the public organization " Cultural Front" and Vice-President of the Kazakhstan center for humanities and the political situation, Nurlan Erimbetov, said in an interview with VK, commenting on the 4th international historical and cultural forum" The Great Victory Achieved by Unity" to be held on April 29th 2014 in Kursk.

As  Erimbetov explained, the story of the Great Patriotic War is still alive in the memory of the veterans, but for today's younger generation it is necessary to update and ensure that it is not affected by fraud. "In many cities of Kazakhstan, monuments to the soldiers were erected in the last 20 years; we have war veterans' councils that are parts of all the important events. A new trend is the renaming of streets in honor of heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Today, however, I think a powerful wave of information is needed about what this war was, because it is now being interpreted in different ways. So-called "experts" can be found in all countries, who are beginning to talk about everything from the perspective of today, and nobody wants to look back in time. It is important that veterans clearly explain to new generations that they defended their homeland," says the expert.

"Few remember today that Kazakhstan sent 1.2 million people to the front during the war and received a huge number of refugees, a significant part of whom remained here. I have many friends among the Caucasian and Slavic peoples who say that their grandfathers moved here. People just do not know that many plants and factories were open in the rear - bombs and airplanes were made right in the steppes and forests. Of those 1.2 million conscripts on the battlefields only half survived. I would suggest organizing what existed in our time - educational trains. Gather the children and take them to cities which were affected by the war: Volgograd, Kursk , Minsk and so on. When we were taken by  these routes and were showed the traces of war, we were imbued with all this, while today, unfortunately,  this seems much lacking," says Nurlan Erimbetov.

In general, in his estimation, in the CIS very little is spoken of the Great Victory achieved by the unity of people, and events like the upcoming forum in Kursk will help preserve the memory of the war and inspire confidence in the veterans that they have not lived this life in vain. "Today we need to talk about what the Great Patriotic War was. Some veterans still remain with us, they are on average about 90 years old, and they should see that their feat was not in vain. For this reason, I often meet with them, and I know it is painful for them that today, in the former Soviet space, films and books about the war are not being produced, as if it never existed. So I think it would be a good awakening," the expert concludes.

The 4th International Historical and Cultural Forum "The Great Victory, Achieved by Unity" in Kursk will provide an opportunity for veterans, historians, politicians and public figures, journalists and experts, representatives of youth movements and researchers of the CIS, Georgia, the Baltic countries, Abkhazia and South Ossetia to communicate with each other. The focus of the forum will be topical issues covering the events of the Great Patriotic War in the media, ways to preserve and transmit the common historical memory, the current state and prospects of the development of the patriotic youth projects in the CIS.

The organizers of the event are the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of CIS Member States (IFESCCO), the development fund "Institute of Eurasian Studies" and the center for political studies "North-South." VK provides information support for the event.