This thesis aims to analyse how the commemoration of the battle of Berlin (1945) changed in the post-war Soviet Union and later, the Russian Federation. This analysis is made by examining specific...Show moreThis thesis aims to analyse how the commemoration of the battle of Berlin (1945) changed in the post-war Soviet Union and later, the Russian Federation. This analysis is made by examining specific monuments and other sites of commemoration, such as museums and parks. This thesis adds to pre-existing research into memory culture in the Soviet Union and the early years of the Russian Federation.Show less
The trigger of this thesis is the war movie ’28 Panfilovcev’ by director and scriptwriter Andrey Shalyopa, released in Russia in November 2016. The movie is about the heroic story of General...Show moreThe trigger of this thesis is the war movie ’28 Panfilovcev’ by director and scriptwriter Andrey Shalyopa, released in Russia in November 2016. The movie is about the heroic story of General Panfilov’s 28 soldiers of the 316th Rifle Division and their defense of Moscow in November 1941. To mirror the heroic tale of the Battle for Moscow, the first-hand account of battalion commander Baurdzhan Momysh-Uly on the battle near Volokolamsk is used, written down by Russian reporter and writer Alexander Bek in 1943. Two primary sources that represent the October and November fighting in the Battle for Moscow in 1941, but from two different perspectives, a blockbuster movie one and a classic literary one. The research question of this thesis consisted of three questions: how can the nearly collapse of the Soviet state by Unternehmen Barbarossa (June-December 1941) historically be explained? How is its overarching symbol, the heroic story of Panfilov’s 28, presented in the war movie ‘28 Panfilovcev’? How do in comparison contemporary firsthand accounts of Red Army soldiers reflect to this heroic picture? This thesis will examine the heroic story of Panfilov’s 28 from its early roots of a newspaper article to its modern day presentation in a blockbuster movie, catapulted to the mass consumers in the large cinemas of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The conclusions of this research of the story Panfilov’s 28 and its political use of the past will make a contribution to the academic debate of the disastrous early war months for the Soviet Union in 1941 as well as in understanding the movie ’28 Panfilovcev’ as an example of present day Russian cultural policy.Show less
