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Dossier

Victory Day

06/05/2022

Flags in Moscow on the occasion of the celebration of the 77th Victory Day over Nazi Germany. IMAGO / ITAR-TASS

Victory Day, 9 May, plays a central role in Russia's politics and culture of remembrance. On the occasion of the 77th Victory Day, which is celebrated during Russia's war against Ukraine, ZOiS is compiling a selection of contributions and research results on the topic.

ZOiS Spotlight 17/2022

Victory Day 2022: Memory at War

by Travis C. Frederick 04/05/2022

As a day to commemorate victory in the ‘Great Patriotic War’, 9 May is central to Russian identity and the understanding of the nation. The significance of the holiday has grown steadily over the course of Putin’s rule and has reached a new high point against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.

ZOiS Spotlight 17/2021

Victory Day at 75+1

by Félix Krawatzek 05/05/2021

Celebrating victory in World War II on 9 May is central to Russia’s official historical narrative. As commemorations take place online and offline, ZOiS survey data show that the victory continues to generate interest among Russians. Meanwhile, the space for dissenting views is increasingly restricted.

ZOiS Spotlight 17/2020

9 May: Contested remembrance of the war’s end

by Sandra Dahlke 29/04/2020

Although this year’s Victory Parade in Russia 75 years after the end of World War II has been postponed due to coronavirus, 9 May is becoming increasingly significant for government-led remembrance policy. This is especially evident from the contested interpretations of memory in recent years.

ZOiS Report 1/2020

World War II for Young Russians: the Production and Reception of History

by Nina Frieß Félix Krawatzek 16/04/2020

Under Vladimir Putin, historical narratives have become a central component of the Kremlin’s attempts to shape the identities of Russians at home and abroad. A new ZOiS Report analyses what World War II means for young Russians and how the conflict is represented for them in literature and film.

ZOiS Spotlight 18/2019

The present and future of post-Soviet war commemoration

by Mischa Gabowitsch 08/05/2019

Every year, 9 May is celebrated as Victory Day, with large-scale commemoration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. There are some critical voices, however, who claim that the Russian regime is manipulating memory to stir up nationalist pride. But this was always more than just a state-sponsored day of remembrance.

ZOiS Spotlight 39/2018

Historical loyalty? Russian youth and its assessment of history

by Félix Krawatzek 14/11/2018

The Russian political elite invests significant resources in shaping the country’s historical narratives. To this end, patriotic education of youth is a central tool. A ZOiS survey of young Russians gives insights into the notions that young people hold about historical events.

Podcast: Roundtable Osteuropa 14

In the year of the 75th anniversary of its end, the memory of World War II has become an immensely controversial topic in international politics. Nina Frieß, George Soroka and Félix Krawatzek discuss the importance of victory day for Russia, its relevance abroad and what young people make of the victory today.

Video: ZOiS Forum

The “wild 90s” have become a trope in Russian public and political discourse to discredit democracy. We discussed insights from the various projects that the Yeltsin Centre has developed to try and shape the memory of that era, embed these in the wider political and public context and its shift over time, and illuminated how the wider Russian society relates to that era.

Podcast: Roundtable Osteuropa 20

Im Dezember 2021 jährt sich der Zerfall der Sowjetunion zum dreißigsten Mal. Als Auftakt unseres Themenjahres #30PostSovietYears diskutieren wir darüber, wie sich die Wahrnehmung der Geschichte gewandelt hat, welche Funktion sie im politischen Diskurs bekommt und welche Bedeutung sie für junge Menschen hat.

ZOiS Spotlight 23/2021

22 June: Russia Remembers the German Invasion of the Soviet Union

by Esther Meier 16/06/2021

In Russia, the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow is overshadowed by Victory Day. But while the official version of history attaches more importance to heroisation and victory than to acknowledgement of suffering and recognition of victim groups, a growing pluralisation of war remembrance has recently emerged.

ZOiS Spotlight 26/2020

Holocaust education in Russia

by Issy Sawkins 01/07/2020

Holocaust education in Russia is in the hands of NGOs like the Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Centre. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the centre has made materials available online through various projects. However, efforts to educate Russians about the Holocaust face challenges beyond the current crisis.

ZOiS Spotlight 20/2018

Svetlana Alexievich and nostalgia

by Anja Tippner 30/05/2018

For her polyphonic writing, for which she conducted hundreds of interviews, the writer Svetlana Alexievich was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature. The disillusionment and nostalgia conveyed in many of these oral testimonies form a contemporary literary analysis of post-socialism.

ZOiS Spotlight 6/2018

Unloved Soviet reformers and the Russian longing for stability

by Jochen Krüger 21/02/2018

On 25 February 1956, the First Secretary of the CPSU gave his famous “Secret Speech” – a key moment in the “Thaw”. In today’s Russia, however, reform figures like Nikita Khrushchev have a poor image. Instead, stability and order are rated highly by the public – a situation that Vladimir Putin is adept at exploiting for his own purposes.

ZOiS Spotlight 28/2017

A loss of control and the politics of memory

by Regina Elsner 25/10/2017

The film ‘Matilda’, about a romance involving Tsar Nicholas II, has been causing controversy in Russia for months. Escalating violence has brought church and state into a confrontation with consequences for their common policies, which for years have been fostering a culture of aggravation and denunciation.

ZOiS Spotlight 20/2017

A cautious look back

by Nina Frieß 26/07/2017

The year 1937 with its NKVD Order No. 00447 was the sad climax of Stalin’s Great Purge, which cost approximately 700,000 lives. A new Russian survey shows once again that Russian society is deeply divided on questions of remembrance, but the findings also reveal a few surprises.

Meet the Author | Alexandr Osipian

Historian Alexandr Osipian examines how historical myths are used in Russian media coverage and propaganda to construct enemy images in the Ukraine crisis. He focuses on the cultural memory of World War II and on local identities in the Donbas region.

Meet the Author | Nina Frieß

In her dissertation, Nina Frieß examines contemporary forms of memory of Stalin-era repression, in particular the Soviet labour camps known as the Gulag. Her research focuses on three media productions based on classics of labour camp literature.

ZOiS Spotlight 2/2017

Russia’s tentative approach to the revolutionary year of 1917

by Nina Frieß 22/03/2017

Russia’s annexation of Crimea three years ago quickly created facts on the ground. The anniversary of the 2014 events brings into focus how the discourse surrounding them has evolved. The narrative of Crimea’s “rightful place” in Russia is no longer limited to Russian circles.