“I’ve seen real machine guns!” says Savieli, 11 years olds, leaving the Moscow Victory Museum with a wooden weapon in his hands, in a Russian society that has become increasingly militarized since the offensive in Ukraine began. The boy proudly holds the gun that he says he received “at his request” as a gift for his birthday the day before.
“I am very interested. I know the old German weaponsSoviet weapons,” he explains in a serious tone, with his brother and his mother, Arina.
The Moscow museum that explains to the little ones about the victory of the Soviet Union
The family went on Wednesday to the large museum that remembers the victory of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany in 1945at the end of a war that left, according to Moscow, 27 million dead on the Soviet side and it affected all homes. The memory of the Great Patriotic Warthe name given to the conflict in Russia, remains a source of immense pride in the country and is commemorated every May 9 during the so-called Victory Day.
The celebrations of this victory are an essential pillar of the militaristic patriotism defended by Vladimir Putinwho justifies the current conflict against Ukraine as an existential fight against “neo-Nazis.”
“Both of my grandparents fought in the war,” Arina explains to AFP, 36 years old, who “is not the first time” he has taken his children to the museum. “We have come (…) to honor the memory of our ancestors,” she explains, insisting on the need to transmit the memory.
The museum functions mainly to remember those who died in the war
Inside the imposing white building of the museum, several classes of de primary school students, with military cap and the St. George ribbon with black and orange stripes on the chestsymbol of the victory of the Red Army. The boys and girls listen carefully to the story that the museum guide tells them.
“kyiv was recaptured in November 1943then, in May 1945, the army liberated Berlin from the Nazis,” he explains in front of a gigantic fresco depicting the taking of the Reichstag by Soviet troops. “Hurrah!” all the students shout at the same time. and then take a photo in front of a miniature German tank. “I’m a soldier!” a boy shouts.
Children learn in a simple way how the Soviet Union triumphed
Later, the majestic Hall of Glory It houses the names of hundreds of fallen soldiers. “Without the past, there is no future,” the entry reads. Between 2021 and 2024, The annual federal budget allocated to “patriotic education” multiplied by 14up to more than 500 million dollars, according to official figures.
Alexander Soskov, 69, came to the museum with his daughter Polina and two of his grandchildren. “It’s our history,” he says, “it’s in our blood.”. And he agrees with the Kremlin on the parallels between World War II and the conflict in Ukraine against the “fascists.”
His granddaughter Daria8 years old, explains how at school they told him about the siege of the city of Leningrad, today’s Saint Petersburg, where More than 800,000 people succumbed to hunger, disease and bombs between 1941 and 1944. For his part, the young Savieli already seems willing to defend “the homeland”: “I was born here, I have had my customs for a long time and I don’t want to abandon it.” Even if we had to take up arms? “Yes,” she replies.
Source: Ambito
