Germans` historical memory on the captivity in the USSR: Experience of qualitative analysis of German Internet resources

The historical memory of a people plays a big role in their understanding of the past and present, and directly aff ects their perception of modern events. The Russian Federation, the entire Russian people, faced with an unprecedented barrage of open Russophobia in the West, with the attempts to abolish Russian culture throughout the world, are perplexed as to how this became possible at the beginning of the 21st century, in democratic countries that for many years were proud of their tolerance to other opinions and democratic governance. A qualitative sociological analysis of the historical memory of modern residents of Germany and Austria will help to answer this question, the specifi cs of which show that such Russophobic ideas were characteristic of the majority of Germans. The work uses the methodology of qualitative sociological research, content analysis of German comments to the fi lms produced in Germany and Austria which are devoted to the analysis of the situation and fate of German prisoners of war who returned to their homeland in 1955–1956. The authors come to the conclusion that German historical memory is characterized by a complete disregard for cause-and-eff ect relationships, a high emotional intensity of memories, expressed in negative emotions: regret, sympathy for German prisoners of war, regardless of the degree of their guilt, ignoring the mistakes and miscalculations of the Nazi leadership during the war, especially during the Battle of Stalingrad. In the comments, German Internet users emphasized the suff erings of the prisoners of war, their moral and personal trauma and the diffi culties of adapting to German society. The German historical consciousness clearly views Soviet captivity as a major catastrophe that brought grief and suff ering to innocent people who found themselves dependent on cruel, vengeful barbarians. The Russian state and civil society are faced with the task of possibly correcting German historical memory, translating Soviet documentaries into German, publishing historical sources proving the genocide of the Soviet people during World War II, posting them on social networks and video hosting sites accessible to the Germans. The sociological data of the author's analysis of German historical memory proves that it is necessary to adjust Russian foreign policy, education and upbringing of the Russian younger generation to this reality, as well as to make changes in the Russian foreign policy.