Russians’ historical memory of the great patriotic war of 1941-1945 in sociological research

Abstract

This study dwells on the historical memory of Russians about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Based on the analysis of various sociological studies on revealing the attitude to the Great Patriotic War, as well as the authors’ research, we concluded that the historical memory about the war of 1941-1945 of the significant majority of Russians (in particular student youth) shows the continuity in their understanding of the leading role of our country in the victory over the enemy and its allies. The obtained data do not diverge from the official position of the Russian state on this key issue. It is important to note the fact that Russian families almost have no veterans who participated in that war. However, they keep carefully transmitting the information about the war events from generation to generation, which is an important component of the cultural tradition and national identity of Russia.