A dialogue platform dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War was held in Vitebsk

This year marks the 80th anniversary of one of the most sorrowful and tragic pages in our history – the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. There is no other event comparable in scale of tragedy, trials, and losses, in its impact on world history not only in the 20th century but also today, in the 21st. And the task of the current generation is precisely to preserve this memory, to align it with real facts, and to prevent its distortion.

This was discussed at the dialogue platform "Our Victory – Our History" on June 14 at the Vitebsk branch of the "MITSO International University" with the participation of the deputy corps, representatives of public associations, historical experts, and cultural institutions. As noted by Vladimir Terentyev, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies, the theme of the war remains relevant to this day, partly because the further the events of those tragic years recede into history, the more falsifications on this topic unfortunately appear. In this context, it is important to conduct a professional, emotionally charged dialogue with young people, to form in them an understanding that history must be evaluated solely on the basis of documents.

Historians must have their weighty and authoritative say in this dialogue. According to Irina Nikolaeva, Deputy Director of the MITSO Vitebsk Branch, each generation re-examines and evaluates past events in its own way, as more and more documentary evidence becomes available.

— This process is associated with the accretion of new knowledge based on facts, while the handling of documents should not be arbitrary or unscientific. However, in pursuit of sensation, to please the momentary conjuncture, many authors and researchers cross the boundaries of objectivity, — emphasized Irina Nikolaeva.

The scholar highlighted several key points that are subject to attempts at revision and falsification. In particular, since the 1990s, a trend has begun to emerge to shift the blame for unleashing the war onto the USSR and to rehabilitate Nazi Germany and its allies. Attempts are also being made to exaggerate the significance of the opening of the second front.

— It is obvious that the Victory was achieved through the efforts of all peoples and states of the anti-Hitler coalition, but the significance of the Soviet-German front cannot be underestimated, where the Nazis lost more than 73% of their equipment, and losses in manpower were four times higher than similar damage on the other three fronts of Nazi Germany's military operations, — explained the scientist.

The head of the Smolensk regional public organization of the Russian Union of Youth, Evgeny Zakharenkov, spoke about joint Belarusian-Russian actions to preserve historical memory. Various creative projects are one of the ways to immerse participants in the importance of the topic, evoking a sense of active empathy in the youth of the 21st century, who will have to pass on the memory of the great feat to the next generation.

"Vitebskie vesti".