Second World War

The 13th edition of its European History Forum was held under the title: “80 Years of Narratives about the End of the Second World War”. How is the pivotal year 1945 remembered in the countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe? 

The experiences of women in the Second World War with sexualised violence show that some suffering was gender-specific. According to the sources, sexualised violence against Jewish women and girls was not a by-product of the war, but the war itself, organised and controlled by those who denied Jews their right to exist.

We are currently witnessing and participating in the processes of reinterpreting the history of World War II and the formation of the modern historic narrative in Ukraine. An important aspect of this relevant discourse is the visibility of diverse women’s experiences in World War II.

 On the second day of the European History Forum, four closed group discussions were held with participants from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The aim of the discussions was to contribute to the deconstruction of the myths of heroines and their memory.

"Different wars: National History Textbooks on the Second World War" - this was the title of a travelling exhibition by the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum. It toured 22 cities in the EU and Russia over the last four years. It showed how current textbooks for secondary schools depict the Second World War in Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic. The short film accompanying the exhibition will be released on 7 May.