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Increasing number of Russians do not know about June 22
- poll
MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) - An opinion poll suggests that 84% of Russians know that Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22 but that the proportion is only 74% among people younger than 35.
Eighteen percent of those younger than 35 who were questioned in a mid-June survey said they did not know what the day stood for. Seven percent of those aged between 36 and 50 made the same admission. One respondent said: "Everyone will have forgotten about it in 10 years' time."
In answering a question what today's young people should know about June 22, the day that marked the start of what the Russians call the Great Patriotic War, 56% told the Public Opinion foundation that the younger generation should think of it as a day forever written down in Russian history.
One should know the history of one's country, people in the 56% category were arguing, one ought to remember what caused the war, how it proceeded, how many lives it claimed, what it led to, and that "it was us and not America who won the war."
One should "know and remember everything," respondents concluded.
Fourteen percent said young people should know about "the patriotism of their grandfathers and fathers," about the heroism of their nation, and so respect and be grateful to war veterans.
One percent were adding that young people needed to know "what fascism is," 4% were saying youth needed to know what war means, and 7% said it needed to be realized what sorrow and suffering fascism and war entailed in order to stop them happening again.
Public Opinion questioned 1,500 people in a nationwide urban and rural poll.
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