The Second World War, in terms of its scale and intensity, the number of people participating in it, the quantity and quality of military equipment, and the huge loss of life and material destruction, surpassed all the wars of the past.
Military operations were conducted on the territory of Europe, Asia, Africa, in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans. Over 55 million people died in the Second World War, 27 million died in the Soviet Union.
The victory over Nazi Germany and its allies was won through the joint actions and efforts of the states of the anti-Hitler coalition united in their anti-fascist liberation struggle against the invaders. The Soviet army made an invaluable contribution to this struggle.
The Nuremberg Tribunal held after the war outlawed war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis and their henchmen, and condemned the leaders of the Nazi regime. During the Nuremberg trials the world learned in detail about the horrors of National Socialism and the atrocious crimes committed by the followers of this ideology. The Nuremberg Tribunal set an important precedent in international justice preceded the creation of international human rights law and the revision of humanitarian law.
Unfortunately, in recent years we have been increasingly witnessing attempts to distort history and falsify the results of the Second World War. The War declared in some countries with monuments in honor of the fighters against Nazism and fascism has gained unprecedented scope. Neo-Nazi marches and torchlight processions are held along the streets of cities in the very centre of Europe in honor of those who actively collaborated with the Nazis and were accomplices in their crimes. Educational programs and cultural projects glorify the "feat" of voluntary members of the national legions of the SS who fought for Nazi Germany and took part in numerous massacres of civilians. Increasingly, racist and xenophobic rhetoric is heard, and manifestations of Islamophobia, Christianophobia, Afrophobia and anti-Semitism have become commonplace in many states. Increasingly, there are cases of discrimination against national minorities – the oppression of national communities in public life, the creation of obstacles for them to preserve their national culture and the use of their native language, oppression of the media, etc.
The teaching of history based on an accurate and truthful presentation of historical facts can serve as a guarantee to prevent the spread of Nazi ideas.
Memory education and memory initiatives with, for, and organized by youth play an important role in preserving the memory of tragic events, learning from the past and preventing the "sowing of hatred seeds” in the future are the way for the horrors of the Second World War and crimes against humanity not to be repeated.
The international training seminar on the preservation of historical memory "Memory and lessons of the Second World War" for youth has been held since 2014 at the initiative of the National Youth Council of Russia.
Until 2021 (before Russia left the Council of Europe) the training seminar was held as one of the events of the annual Action Plan for the implementation of the framework program for Cooperation between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Council of Europe in the field of youth policy. Since 2022 it has been held as part of the implementation of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for international youth cooperation of the CIS Member States for the period up to 2030.
In 2022 the training seminar was held from December 19 to 23 in Moscow.
The purpose of the training seminar was to involve young people in the dialogue on preserving the historical memory of the Second World War and to support their activities aimed at preserving the historical memory of the Second World War.
Tasks:
- to raise participants' awareness of the Second World War,
- to exchange experience in holding events to preserve the historical memory of the Second World War,
- to discuss the challenges associated with the preservation of historical memory (including historical revisionism, falsification and manipulation of facts about historical events) as well as ways to respond to them,
- to create conditions for regular dialogue between youth leaders of different countries during discussing issues related to the Second World War,
- to support participants in the development of projects to preserve the historical memory of the Second World War.
The training seminar was organized jointly by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the National Youth Council of Russia and MIREA – Russian Technological University.
40 participants (20 participants from the Russian Federation, 20 participants from the CIS Member States and other countries interested in the topic of the training seminar) took part. They were active members of youth organizations and initiative groups working on the topic of preserving the historical memory of the Second World War, youth workers, youth policy workers, youth leaders, non-formal education trainers, experts involved in preserving the historical memory of the Second World War.
Key outcomes:
During the five-day event the participants increased their awareness of the Second World War as well as viewed the history of the war through the prism of personal stories, exchanged experience in holding events to preserve the historical memory of the Second World War, analyzed the existing practices of youth work to preserve the historical memory of the Second World War. They also discussed modern tools for working with youth on the topic of preserving the historical memory of the Second World War, discussed the challenges associated with the preservation of historical memory (including historical revisionism, falsification and manipulation of facts about historical events) as well as ways to respond to them. The participants defined quality standards in the implementation of projects on the topic of preserving the historical memory of the Second World War, got acquainted with the program for the development of the activities of "School Museum of Victory" implemented by the Museum of Victory, listened to the lecture "The Great Patriotic War: myths and reality", got acquainted with the activities and projects of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Rospatriotcentre", visited the Victory Museum and the exposition "Feat of the People".
As a result of the training seminar the participants developed project ideas and solutions aimed at preserving historical memory. Among them were:
- the historical club project to raise awareness of the Second World War among pupils in grades 8-11, students and faculty,
- the development and adoption of the Strategy within the framework of which the problem of preserving the historical memory of the Second World War will be presented,
- holding a forum for young people living in the countries of the post-Soviet space during which new approaches to the study of history will be developed,
- the project to develop a media product on the Vkontakte social network platform where video and photographic materials will be presented to combat the falsification of historical memory,
- conducting social surveys among schoolchildren and students to analyze the level of awareness of population groups on the subject of the Second World War and the preservation of historical memory as well as conducting extracurricular lessons, trips to historical museums, publishing books and organizing trainings,
- organization of the International Youth Media School for 3 months which will increase the level of critical thinking in relation to media content dedicated to historical topics,
- organization of a seminar with experts working in the field of preserving historical memory.
