9 May in Russia: Memory (politics) of World War II

This year’s celebrations of the end World War II have been long in
the planning in Russia. But the spread of Covid-19 has made it
inevitable to postpone the most important events, notably the
military parade in Moscow. Already last year, President Vladimir
Putin declared 2020 a year of victory and glory, demonstrating once
more that the Soviet victory is a very important resource for
identification with the Russian state. In the year of the 75th
anniversary of its end, the memory of World War II has become an
immensely controversial topic in international politics. At the
same time, it is one of the last anniversaries that a significant
number of veterans can join. In the podcast, slavicist Nina Frieß
and political scientists George Soroka and Félix Krawatzek discuss
the importance of victory day for Russia, its relevance abroad and
what young people make of the victory today. (Music: “Complete” by
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