CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS CHILD VICTIMS OF FASCISM, BLASTS

UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000065 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV RS SUBJECT: CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS CHILD VICTIMS OF FASCISM, BLASTS REVISIONISM ¶1. The international conference "The Second World War in the Eyes of Children: Former Prisoners of Fascist Concentration Camps" was held in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on April 3. The event was attended by about two hundred participants, including former concentration camp prisoners and visitors from the U.S., Israel, and Estonia. The stated goal of the conference was to "ensure that fascist crimes are never forgotten." Presenters also spoke about the threat of neo-Nazis within Russia and about "historic revisionism" abroad that downplays the Soviet Union's contributions to defeating fascism. ¶2. A historian at the conference reported that of the 26 million Soviet victims of World War Two, 13 million were civilians. The detailed statistics are 7,420,379 civilians executed, 2,164,313 deaths at labor camps and 4,100,000 deaths from disease. German Ambassador Walter Yurgen Shmidt said the "measureless sufferings" of the Holocaust still evoke "fury, despair, and shame." ¶3. The Association of Former Juvenile Prisoners of Fascist Concentration Camps (Pamyat) reports that there are 238 former juvenile inmates from concentration camps in their organization. The of the president of the organization in the US, Mark Borisovich Goldovskiy described his personal experiences and his personal struggle to overcome the nightmares he still has from the war. ¶4. Yuriy Ivanovich Nedorez, the head of geopolitics at the Russian Geographical Society in Sakhalin, lamented that most Americans still do not recognize the depth of the sacrifice of the USSR in World War Two and the "crucial role" the country played in defeating fascism. He also said that the Perestroika-era re-examining of Soviet actions during the war led to the de-glorification of Red Army and its leadership, and has tainted Soviet wartime achievements in the eyes of the youth. ¶5. Psychologist Elena Gennadievna Vlasenkovk from Sakhalin State University discussed World War Two as a "nation forming" epic that will be the source of stories and inspiration for "hundreds and thousands" of years. She said the people who overcame the suffering of the camps help psychiatrists and psychologists find ways to help other people even today to find meaning in their lives and to overcome tremendous difficulties. ¶6. Comment: The resolution of the conference states that the passing of generations has led to a "weakening of the historical memory" of people which must be reversed. Though the tone of some of the speakers seemed nationalistic, critical of neighboring countries, and eager to preserve the Soviet "legacy," most of the presenters had simple and moving personal stories to tell that brought home the main point of the conference -- that the inhumanity of war should never be forgotten. ARMBRUSTER