| 00:00:00:00 | 00:00:06:00 | You can write more openly about Stalinism than you can about World War II in today's Russia. |
| 00:00:07:03 | 00:00:10:17 | Our people live in a land of distorted mirrors |
| 00:00:10:24 | 00:00:13:13 | which is constructed by state propaganda. |
| 00:00:43:24 | 00:00:51:22 | Michael, a young German, has arrived in Volgograd to take part in a Stalingrad battle re-enactment hoping to understand how Russia remembers World War II 70-years on. |
| 00:00:55:15 | 00:00:59:17 | The costume gives us the possibility of entering a world... |
| 00:00:59:17 | 00:01:01:20 | that is otherwise closed to us. |
| 00:01:02:05 | 00:01:11:09 | Yeah, doubts start to arise, if it's right, if it's good or if it dishonours these people, the veterans, the dead. |
| 00:01:14:10 | 00:01:16:14 | The hat is too big... |
| 00:01:19:24 | 00:01:21:05 | It's a sign. |
| 00:01:27:12 | 00:01:33:17 | Why WW2 and the memory of it have such an important emotional meaning for Russians |
| 00:01:33:20 | 00:01:37:13 | is a question that many people ask and don't understand. |
| 00:01:40:00 | 00:01:43:07 | Aren't you shocked that I'm standing here like a German? |
| 00:01:43:07 | 00:01:48:02 | Life is going on and everything has changed, you're now my friend. |
| 00:01:48:08 | 00:01:55:19 | I'm afraid...I'm asking myself if I'm doing it right? |
| 00:01:56:23 | 00:02:05:13 | If we remove WW2 from our mass consciousness, then all our sacrifices that are not a result of the war |
| 00:02:05:13 | 00:02:10:10 | but of the Soviet economy, repression, and other horrors of the Soviet reality, lose their meaning. |
| 00:02:10:10 | 00:02:14:07 | But as long as the war is remembered, everything is justified. |
| 00:02:14:07 | 00:02:18:07 | It justifies repression because it was needed to conquer Hitler. |
| 00:02:18:18 | 00:02:19:14 | Where? |
| 00:02:21:06 | 00:02:22:02 | Chechnya |
| 00:02:25:06 | 00:02:28:22 | The history of WW2 is not critically dealt with in Russia. |
| 00:02:29:11 | 00:02:36:10 | firstly because I think most historians don't want to; as they themselves support the patriotic myth; |
| 00:02:36:14 | 00:02:39:17 | Secondly because they are not allowed to, it's a taboo subject. |
| 00:03:15:01 | 00:03:19:08 | Why do you want to make a selfie with the German officer? |
| 00:03:19:11 | 00:03:22:09 | It's not every day one can see a German... |
| 00:03:24:18 | 00:03:27:06 | So you decided to start this ten years ago? |
| 00:03:28:13 | 00:03:35:12 | Yeah, we started it in our childhood and now our group has always new people. |
| 00:03:36:09 | 00:03:40:17 | Here in Russia no one asks me why I do this, |
| 00:03:41:09 | 00:03:44:21 | but when I was in Germany I was asked why. |
| 00:03:46:02 | 00:03:49:14 | For me it was totally normal what I do. |
| 00:03:50:02 | 00:03:51:22 | Why should I justify it. |
| 00:03:55:08 | 00:03:58:24 | People want to hear the hero stories, the uniting stories, |
| 00:03:59:00 | 00:04:02:02 | about success and achievement, that’s what one wants to hear. |
| 00:04:06:14 | 00:04:12:16 | In my opinion every country has to conduct educational work, patriotic work, |
| 00:04:12:16 | 00:04:19:10 | it is necessary to tell children the truth so that they can understand and make sure that these events |
| 00:04:19:10 | 00:04:22:03 | which took place more than 70 years ago |
| 00:04:22:03 | 00:04:24:04 | will never take place again. |
| 00:04:26:04 | 00:04:28:18 | Patriotic culture must be taught starting with the family |
| 00:04:28:18 | 00:04:32:10 | and then spread to all levels of the state system. |
| 00:04:34:04 | 00:04:37:02 | We know that today there are difficulties in the world, |
| 00:04:37:02 | 00:04:40:06 | not everything is peaceful, but we have to understand |
| 00:04:40:06 | 00:04:43:21 | that there are values in our life that are more important than conflict. |
| 00:04:44:09 | 00:04:46:18 | 14th of September 1942, |
| 00:04:47:00 | 00:04:50:07 | 6.30am, fascists start attacking Stalingrad. |
| 00:04:50:17 | 00:04:53:05 | The enemy is throwing its 7 best divisions at the city, |
| 00:04:53:15 | 00:04:56:16 | 500 tanks, hundreds of planes, and over a thousand armored vehicles. |
| 00:04:56:18 | 00:04:59:20 | The target is the center of Stalingrad. |
| 00:05:01:12 | 00:05:10:06 | How much do German children know about the Great Patriotic War and the Battle of Stalingrad? |
| 00:05:10:06 | 00:05:14:24 | Of course, we remember this event in a slightly different way, |
| 00:05:15:14 | 00:05:17:09 | but it's an important fact. |
| 00:05:17:12 | 00:05:22:21 | For us, we don't remember ourselves as heros in the war. |
| 00:05:22:24 | 00:05:28:02 | It's the most evil thing in our history... |
| 00:05:28:07 | 00:05:31:14 | We started this war, it's our debt. |
| 00:05:36:07 | 00:05:42:23 | Patriots believe that our task is to unite the Ukraine or to prevent it from joining the West; |
| 00:05:42:23 | 00:05:50:11 | Instead of building a road from Moscow to Vladivostok which we still don't have |
| 00:05:50:18 | 00:05:56:02 | we invest money into the patriotic upbringing and the militarisation of the society. |
| 00:05:57:07 | 00:05:59:19 | The children serve for 10 days, |
| 00:06:00:01 | 00:06:03:00 | and every 10 days the school is rotated. |
| 00:06:03:00 | 00:06:07:01 | All the schools in Volgograd participate in this process. |
| 00:06:07:12 | 00:06:10:09 | Is it only the best students who participate? ... Yes, yes. |
| 00:06:13:00 | 00:06:16:24 | Are you afraid of the present situation? |
| 00:06:17:07 | 00:06:23:06 | Remember France and Napoleon, the revolution, later WW2... |
| 00:06:24:18 | 00:06:27:18 | It's impossible to conquer this nation. |
| 00:06:34:05 | 00:06:39:10 | It's interesting and it's honourable, it makes us very proud standing at such a place |
| 00:06:39:10 | 00:06:42:06 | expressing honour to those who protected our city. |
| 00:06:42:12 | 00:06:47:01 | Also understand, it evokes patriotism in those who have little or none. |
| 00:07:30:19 | 00:07:34:21 | I think when this regime is put under pressure, |
| 00:07:35:10 | 00:07:41:01 | it will use patriotism and nationalism as a weapon, to mobilise the people, |
| 00:07:41:01 | 00:07:44:00 | in order to distract from the real problems. |
| 00:07:44:00 | 00:07:50:12 | And the best way to do this is to project the problems on neighbouring states and to say it's their fault, |
| 00:07:50:12 | 00:07:57:07 | here we have to intervene, and it was only good for us when we had the old empire, |
| 00:07:57:07 | 00:08:01:07 | and the fall of the Soviet Union was the biggest catastrophe of the 20th century. |
| 00:08:01:07 | 00:08:08:03 | That’s the way Putin's elite argues and it is astonishing how successfull they are. |
| 00:08:11:01 | 00:08:19:04 | The Ukraine is for me an example of a place where real patriotism based on the historical events |
| 00:08:19:04 | 00:08:25:03 | has been replaced by fake patriotism for the last 20 years. |
| 00:08:25:03 | 00:08:31:12 | What is happening now is the result of the distortion of historical events. |
| 00:08:36:22 | 00:08:39:02 | Is it army make-up or what is it? |
| 00:08:39:02 | 00:08:41:13 | It's from the theatre from the Soviet times. |
| 00:08:41:13 | 00:08:42:13 | Really? Yeah. |
| 00:08:42:13 | 00:08:44:16 | Can I have a wound like him? |
| 00:08:46:17 | 00:08:47:21 | Ok, right now! |
| 00:08:50:05 | 00:08:57:14 | When your problems aren't dealt with and you have the feeling you can't solve them, |
| 00:08:57:14 | 00:09:03:23 | then the escape into a myth that creates unity is very convenient. |
| 00:09:29:14 | 00:09:35:05 | Patriotism is understood and tought as hatred of everything foreign |
| 00:09:35:05 | 00:09:39:04 | ...enemies are everywhere. They want to destroy us. |
| 00:09:39:04 | 00:09:42:20 | Why do they want to destroy us? There is no answer to this question. |
| 00:09:42:20 | 00:09:46:04 | They want to destroy us because they don't like Russians. |
| 00:09:47:15 | 00:09:51:14 | I think that with the economic crisis which is approaching |
| 00:09:51:14 | 00:09:56:18 | the regime will become more aggressive, more authoritarian, |
| 00:09:56:18 | 00:10:02:04 | and this authoritarian style will reenforce this myth. |
| 00:10:02:04 | 00:10:06:04 | Because the Soviet Union and Russia don't have anything else. |
| 00:10:10:20 | 00:10:16:04 | About 2 million people died in the Stalingrad Battle on both sides. |
| 00:10:16:04 | 00:10:19:20 | Later the battle was named the tragedy of two nations. |
| 00:10:19:20 | 00:10:20:24 | Do you agree with this? |
| 00:10:21:13 | 00:10:26:14 | I agree, it's a tragedy. A human tragedy. |
| 00:10:30:23 | 00:10:33:02 | Hello, my name is Michael. |
| 00:10:33:20 | 00:10:35:00 | Stanislav, nice to meet you. |
| 00:10:35:24 | 00:10:40:16 | We have come here today to discuss a very important issue |
| 00:10:40:16 | 00:10:46:14 | which has recently become urgent due to the latest political events. |
| 00:10:46:19 | 00:10:52:12 | It's a topic of concealment, mistreatment and falsification of historical facts |
| 00:10:52:12 | 00:10:56:24 | which recently has been intensely spoken about in all our newspapers and TV channels. |
| 00:10:57:05 | 00:11:02:01 | All these falsifications are a part of an ideological fight for the future... |
| 00:11:02:01 | 00:11:05:21 | throughout the world and particularly in our country. |
| 00:11:05:21 | 00:11:17:11 | When we speak about the west, we can also see falsification of WW2 history, perhaps not in terms of pure lying, |
| 00:11:17:11 | 00:11:21:14 | but the emphasis has totally shifted over the last while. |
| 00:11:21:17 | 00:11:28:06 | Now the brutality of the Nazis is seen as being as bad as the brutality of the Red Army. |
| 00:11:28:18 | 00:11:31:00 | Why is this theme topical... |
| 00:11:31:07 | 00:11:34:06 | Because now our media sources |
| 00:11:34:06 | 00:11:45:12 | are paying a lot of attention to the question concerning falsification of history since the recent events in Ukraine. |
| 00:12:16:18 | 00:12:22:11 | When we speak about the Ukraine we hear such comments as “you see, we told you—the west is an aggressor'. |
| 00:12:27:00 | 00:12:28:18 | When things become economically more critical |
| 00:12:28:18 | 00:12:32:24 | there will be greater aggression. And that's why I have always been against the European sanctions. |
| 00:12:32:24 | 00:12:37:06 | I see them as a big mistake because they destabilise Russia, |
| 00:12:37:06 | 00:12:41:12 | and the more unstable Russia is the more aggressive its elite will become. |
| 00:12:41:12 | 00:12:43:03 | I don't think that's what we want. |
| 00:12:44:03 | 00:12:53:03 | Producer / Camera Host / Production Manager Executive Producer Production Supervisor |
| 00:01:31:21 | 00:01:35:22 | Prof. Jörg Baberowski Historain Humboldt-University |
| 00:01:56:23 | 00:02:06:01 | Dmitry Oreshkin Political analyst |
| 00:02:43:08 | 00:02:52:12 | Marc Bennetts Moscow Journalist |
| 00:03:27:06 | 00:03:31:06 | Anton Medveditskov Historical Re-enactment Organiser |
| 00:04:14:09 | 00:04:18:18 | Oleg Mikheev Politician, Just Russia Party |
| 00:05:38:00 | 00:05:47:03 | Dmitry Oreshkin Political analyst |
| 00:06:47:15 | 00:06:56:19 | Marc Bennetts Moscow Journalist |
| 00:07:34:24 | 00:07:41:04 | Prof. Jörg Baberowski Historain Humboldt-University |
| 00:08:11:01 | 00:08:15:10 | Oleg Mikheev Politician, Just Russia Party |
| 00:10:35:00 | 00:10:39:14 | MTV Volgograd TV channel |
| 00:11:34:06 | 00:11:38:07 | Stanislav Anischenko TV presenter |
| 00:12:44:03 | 00:12:53:03 | Sam Jones Michael Sebek Tonio Weicker Dr Hanna Bingel |
| 00:12:44:03 | 00:12:53:03 | Composer Editor Translator |
| 00:12:44:03 | 00:12:53:03 | Fabio Viana Ben Jones Sam Jones Ekaterina Yakusheva |