The new generation knows much less about WWII than the previous generations. Memory transmission channels such as family and social communication are not functioning properly.
MOSCOW, JUNE 22, 2020. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of a survey to commemorate June 22 - Day of Memory and Sorrow related to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
Russians know the exact date when the Great Patriotic War started — June 22, 1941 (68%); they are mainly older Russians aged 45-59 (81%) and aged 60 and over (85%, those who or whose parents witnessed that terrible events. Young people tend to indicate wrong dates (43% of the 18-24-year-olds; 24% among all Russians) or say that they do not know the exact date (11% of respondents in the youngest cohort; 4% among all the Russians). At the same time, in the last 13 years this date has not been condemned to oblivion: in 2007 the date was correctly indicated by 65% of Russians.
As two years ago, the most common way to honor the victims of the Great Patriotic War is to remember those fallen in war and to visit cemeteries (18%). People also lay wreaths at the monuments (7%), commemorate this day (7%), bring flowers to the eternal flame or a memorial, and visit military monuments and sites (5%).
More than one-third of Russians know certain details about the life of their relatives who participated in the Great Patriotic War from the family archives and family stories (38%). Every second respondent also knows that his/her relatives fought in the war but cannot provide any details about that, or they only know that their relatives went missing or were killed in the war (50%).
Russians visit monument to the Great Patriotic War quite often: one–third of them do it several times a year (33%); almost the same percentage of respondents do it at least once a year (34%). As to metropolitan residents, one-quarter of them do it once every two or three years or less often (26%). Sixteen percent of Russians do not visit such monuments.
What monuments to the Great Patriotic War should every Russian visit at least once in a lifetime? Respondents propose to start with the nearby monuments: every city has its memorials, tombs of fallen soldiers, its own Eternal Flame monument (18%). The Khatyn Memorial, a symbol of mass killings of the civilian population by Nazi Germany situated in Belarus, is also worth visiting (8%). Another must-see places are the Motherland Calls Monument (6%) and “To the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" Memorial Complex, Mamayev Kurgan and the city of Volgograd in general (5%) which were the place of the fierce fighting from September 1942 till January 1943 where more than 35,000 Stalingrad defenders rest in peace. Almost every tenth respondent suggests visiting monuments to the Great Patriotic War (9%).
Russian VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on June 21, 2020. Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,600 Russians aged 18 and older. A stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of Russian landline and mobile phone number was used. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
The 2004-2015 data are based on household surveys.
Let us talk about the Great Patriotic War. Do you know when exactly the Great Patriotic War began? Please specify the date (month, day and year). (open-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||
| 2007 | 2018 | 2020 |
June 22, 1941 | 65 | 69 | 68 |
Another date | 29 | 25 | 24 |
I do not know | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Don’t know | 6 | 3 | 4 |
Let us talk about the Great Patriotic War. Do you know when exactly the Great Patriotic War began? Please specify the date (month, day and year). (open-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 + |
June 22, 1941 | 68 | 32 | 46 | 68 | 81 | 85 |
Another date | 24 | 43 | 37 | 23 | 18 | 13 |
I do not know | 4 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Don’t know | 4 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
June 22 marks the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Do you do anything special to honor the victims of this war? (open-ended question, up to 5 answers, % of total respondents; answers of 2% of respondents) 2020 | |
| Total respondents |
I commemorate my relatives who fought in this war; we go to the cemetery | 18 |
I lay floral tributes at the memorial | 7 |
We commemorate this date. Day of Memory and Sorrow | 7 |
We go to demonstrations, lay flowers at the Eternal Flame, visit memorial places | 5 |
I watch military movies, read books, watch TV, sing songs | 4 |
We commemorate the beginning of the war, war events | 4 |
We have a dinner with family and friends | 3 |
“Memory Candle” | 2 |
I go to church, pray, put a candle | 2 |
I participate in various actions | 2 |
I congratulate the veterans | 2 |
I tell my children, grandchildren about those events on this day | 2 |
Moment of Silence | 2 |
We organize activities related to the GPW | 2 |
I do not do anything special on June 22 | 46 |
Other | 5 |
Don’t know | 10 |
Did anyone in your family participate in the Great Patriotic War? If so, do you know any details about their life during the war? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||
| 2004
| 2005 | 2007 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2020 |
Yes, I know a lot about that based on the stories told by my relatives, family archive (letters, photos) | 50 | 46 | 45 | 34 | 42 | 35 | 38 |
I know that some of my relatives fought in this war but I do not know any details | 31 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 37 | 37 |
Some of my relatives took part in this war but they were killed or went missing; nothing is know about them | 10 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 13 |
None of my relatives participated in this war | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
I do not know if anyone in my family took part in this war | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
Don’t know | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Did anyone in your family participate in the Great Patriotic War? If so, do you know any details about their life during the war? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 + |
Yes, I know a lot about that based on the stories told by my relatives, family archive (letters, photos) | 38 | 33 | 23 | 39 | 42 | 47 |
I know that some of my relatives fought in this war but I do not know any details | 37 | 42 | 43 | 35 | 35 | 32 |
Some of my relatives took part in this war but they were killed or went missing: nothing is know about them | 13 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 11 |
None of my relatives participated in this war | 6 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
I do not know if anyone in my family took part in this war | 6 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
Don’t know | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Do you visit the monuments/memorials to the Great Patriotic War? If so, how often? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St Petersburg | Million-plus cities | 500-950 thousand inhabitants | 100–500 thousand inhabitants | Less than 100 thousand inhabitants | Rural area |
Several times a year | 33 | 24 | 23 | 27 | 37 | 35 | 39 |
Once a year | 34 | 27 | 28 | 34 | 35 | 39 | 37 |
Once every two or three years | 9 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 5 |
Less often than once every two or three years | 6 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
Never | 16 | 20 | 25 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
Don’t know | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
In your opinion, what memorials to the Great Patriotic War should every Russian visit at least once in a lifetime? Several answers are possible; you can also provide your own answer (closed-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Answer options proposed to respondents (chosen by 0.2% of respondents) |
|
Memorial Complex To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamayev Kurgan, Volgograd city | 5 |
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Moscow | 4 |
Poklonnaya Gora (Hill), Moscow | 0.3 |
Mound of Glory, Gomel city, Belarus | 0.2 |
Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, St Petersburg | 0.2 |
Prokhorovskoe Field Museum-Reserve, Prokhorovka, Belgorod Region/ Krivtsovo Memorial, Orel region/ “Alyosha” Monument of the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War, Murmansk/ The Rear-Front Memorial, Magnitogorsk/ The Monument to Soldier and Sailor, Sevastopol/ The Cranes Memorial, Saratov/ The Soldier-Liberator Monument, Berlin; Panfilov's Heroes Memorial, Moscow region / “Brest Hero Fortress”, Brest, Belarus | 0 |
Freely expressed answers |
|
Every city has its monument /tomb/eternal flame / in any city / the nearest memorial located in my city (from “other”) | 18 |
The Khatyn Memorial Complex (from “other”) | 8 |
The Motherland Calls Monument (from “other”) | 6 |
Eternal Flame (from “other”) | 4 |
Those sites we manage to visit / places we have an opportunity to go to / any (from “other”) | 3 |
The Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier (from “other”) | 3 |
“Brest Hero Fortress”, Brest, Belarus (from “other”) | 2 |
Small Land Memorial, near Novorossiysk (from “other”) | 2 |
The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces (from “other”) | 1 |
The Kursk salient (from “other”) | 1 |
The 35th Coastal Battery, Sevastopol (from “other”) | 1 |
Mount Sapun (from “other”) | 1 |
The Monument to Matrosov (from “other”) | 1 |
Nevsky Piglet Memorial (from “other”) | 1 |
“Alyosha” Monument in Bulgaria (from “other”) | 1 |
Sambek Heights (from “other”) | 0.5 |
All (from “other”) | 9 |
None | 3 |
Other* | 29 |
Don’t know | 10 |
*Answers by at most 0.2% of respondents
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.