On September 3 - 5 the 5th Session of the International Forum “Preserving the Memory of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War” - “Protect the Truth about the Victory!” in will be held as part of the XVI Sevastopol International Festival of Documentaries and TV programs VICTORIOUS TOGETHER.
International Forum “Preserving the Memory of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War” draws attention to the issues of preserving historical memory of the peoples, supports the movement against the erosion of the value and meaning aspects of history, falsification of the outcomes of the Second World War.
The 5th Session of the Forum “Protect the Truth about the Victory!” will be held on September 3 in the Vorontsov Palace. The Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksenov supported the forum.
Vladimir Nemtsev, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the City of Sevastopol, Andrey Belyaninov, Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, and Svetlana Smirnova, Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of peoples of Russia, First Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, will greet the participants.
Historians, scientists, documentary filmmakers, public and political figures from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Ecuador will take part in the discussion of the causes and lessons of the Second World War, the importance of attracting the attention of the general public of the CIS and Baltic countries to the issues of preserving historical memory, countering attempts to rehabilitate Nazism.
The forum will be moderated by:
- President of the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio Valery Ruzin,
- Artistic Director of Russian programs at the Moscow International Film Festival Irina Pavlova,
- President of the Association of Researchers of the Russian Society (ARRS-XXI), Gennady Bordyugov,
- Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly Stanislav Korolev.
The Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio, and the Association of Researchers of the Russian Society (ARRS-XXI) organize the forum.
For the first time, the Forum was held as part of the XV Sevastopol International Film Festival VICTORIOUS TOGETHER in May 2019, then, supported by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Russian Centre for Science and Culture it was continued at Baku Slavic University in October 2019. In February 2020 the Forum took place in Yalta as part of the International Scientific Conference “Yalta - 1945: Lessons of History”, and on June 17, 2020 it was held online with the participation of experts from 15 countries.
The key theme of the Forum is historical memory and truth. The Forum focuses on categories that directly shape reality and determine our view of modernity. The truth is rooted in historical memory. Svetlana Smirnova, Chair of the Council of the Assembly of peoples of Russia, First Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, stressed the importance of preserving historical memory at the Forum held on June 17, 2020, pointing out the importance of involving young people in this process and using the methods and forms of work that are acceptable to young people.
The position and mission of the Forum are expressed in the words of the President of the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio Valery Ruzin. He believes that “it is very important for us not to remain silent when history is falsified. Dmitry Likhachev said: “falsification turns into evil when we are silent.” This omission is historical colour blindness. United, we need to confront this in science, in the media, and in cinema. We are doing this as part of the Sevastopol International Festival of Documentaries and TV Programs VICTORIOUS TOGETHER.
Ekaterina Altabayeva, Chairman of the Sevastopol branch of the Russian Historical Society and a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, said that the Forum is undoubtedly important for Sevastopol, where it was born. The Senator said: “I think that our Forum, being an integral part of the film festival that has been held for many years in the Hero City of Sevastopol, today in a Federal city, part of the Russian Federation, is a huge event in the life of Crimea, Sevastopol and Russia, and in life of all republics of the former Soviet Union and the international space. Being part of Ukraine, we experienced in reality, how difficult it is to lose historical memory when young people, who have grown up over a quarter of a century, do not know the true history at all. The history was falsified, and this has led to terrible consequences for society. Since we have won together, only together we can save our memories!”
The 5th session of the International Public Forum “Preserving the Memory of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War” – “Protect the Truth about the Victory!” solves the problem of finding new practices for creating constructive and creative images of the memory of the Victory over fascism. It helps to strengthen mutual understanding and peaceful relations between countries and peoples.
The first day of the Opening of the Forum Session will be live broadcast in the official Facebook account of the Eurasian peoples’ Assembly.