An exhibit comparing different views on World War II opened in the Novosibirsk regional library on Wednesday, the Tayga news service reported.
The exhibit, entitled “Different Wars,” uses high school textbooks from Russia, Poland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania and the Czech Republic to show how different countries teach the history of the war. Consisting of several stands with photos and descriptions, the exhibit handles sensitive aspects surrounding the war, such as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact and the Holocaust.
A working group from the EU-Russia Civil Forum produced the exhibit with the help of historians and history enthusiasts. It has already been shown in Moscow, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Prague and Strasbourg. Sergei Tereshenkov, a PR coordinator from the Civil Forum, explained the exhibit’s personal significance for him.
“I was born in St. Petersburg — my grandmother survived the blockade of Leningrad,” he said.
“And of course, when Victory Day came, my family was very glad, but this joy came with tears. My grandmother’s father had died during the blockade, and so did her two-year-old sister.”
He added that the Soviet victory in World War II was “a heroic liberation of the country on one hand, but on the other hand it was a tragedy for real families.”
