The Russian Red Cross held a round table in Moscow dedicated to the humanitarian aspects of the history of World War II and today’s approaches to preserving historical heritage. The event was timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory and the jubilee of the RRC Tracing and Information Centre, one of the most remarkable humanitarian services in the post-war period. Leading archivists, representatives of international humanitarian organisations and search services took part in the discussion.
The participants discussed the role of archives in identifying the fate of victims, the evolution of tracing methods from card indexes to digital technologies, and the importance of international cooperation in fighting against the falsification of history. The round table was held at the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Opening the event, the President of the Russian Red Cross highlighted the special historical significance of the Tracing Centre anniversary and emphasized that working with the war memory has always been part of the humanitarian mission of the Russian Red Cross.
“For the Russian Red Cross, preserving historical heritage is not only an important part of our history but also our humanitarian duty to all those people whose lives were affected by the war. In the first months after the Victory Day, the staff of the Tracing and Information Centre worked round the clock – every day they received thousands of letters from all over the world. And today, 80 years later, this work continues – behind every document lies human pain, hope and memory. We are confident that only openness, international cooperation and the use of modern technology will help us to preserve authentic history and stand against its distortion”, emphasised Pavel Savchuk, President of the Russian Red Cross and member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
The Executive Secretary of the Russian Search Movement and State Duma Deputy Elena Tsunaeva delivered a welcoming address to the participants and pointed out that even 80 years later, thousands of citizens are still taking a keen interest in the fate of their loved ones who went missing during the war, so the work of the Tracing and Information Center remains extremely important for restoring a sense of justice to history. Ruslan Gagkuev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Historical Society and Executive Director of the History of the Fatherland Foundation sent a welcoming message to the participants of the round table. He emphasized the systematic and invaluable work of the RRC Tracing and Information Centre, noting that it is a crucial to determine the fate of defenders of the Fatherland and victims of war for preserving historical memory. Larisa Rogovaya, Director of the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF), also sent a welcome address to the participants, highlighting the importance of preserving historical documents for future generations.
Rania Machlab, Head of Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, and Frank Mohrhauer, Head of Country Cluster Delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for the Russian Federation and Belarus also addressed the participants with welcoming remarks.
During the first thematic session focused on archives as the basis for intergenerational continuity, Dmitry Nikiforov, Director General of the RRC Tracing and Information Centre, presented a historical overview of the Centre’s activities and the key stages in the formation of its unique documentary collection. Dr Giora Zwilling, representative of the Arolsen Archives, shared a report on how the Arolsen Archives collection has remained relevant until now, helping to identify the fates of victims of Nazism. Margarita Silaeva, coordinator of the Red Crescent Society of Kazakhstan, contributed to the discussion with examples of how essential these materials are for today’s work. In addition, Irina Baikova, Head of the Scientific Information and Enquiries Department at the GARF Research Centre, underlined the importance of cooperation between archives and public organisations in the development of search projects.
The second session, followed with great interest by participants, dealt with digital solutions and innovations in archiving. Anton Moskalenkov, Director of Government Relations at Yandex, presented the company's approaches to the use of artificial intelligence for the automatic processing and digitisation of archival data sets, which dramatically speeds up a search for information. Dr Zwilling's presentation continued the subject matter of digitisation, providing a detailed overview of the large-scale programme to digitise the Arolsen Archives' collections while using the advanced algorithms to search for connections between documents. Olga Kopylova, Head of the Information and Search Systems Department at the GARF Research Centre, spoke about the large-scale work involved in converting traditional card indexes into electronic format, which opens up fundamentally new opportunities to search for information and in-depth study of the humanitarian aspects in the history of the Second World War. Christian Fogg, Head of Archives at the International Committee of the Red Cross, presented the ICRC's programme for the protection of archives, which aims to preserve documentary evidence in the face of modern risks, including cyberattacks and natural disasters.
The final session was related to the humanitarian dimension of war and the role of society in preserving historical heritage. Vladimir Tarasov, Director of the Russian State Military Archive, spoke about the complex work required to identify what happened to the prisoners of war, in particular, how specialists deal with the problems of distorted surnames and other data in wartime documents, which for decades have made it difficult to establish the names of those who died. Executive Director of the All-Russian public movement ‘Search Movement of Russia’ Alexey Bormotov shared examples of successful cooperation with the RRC Tracing and Information Centre to clarify the fates of soldiers whose names had remained unknown for many years, highlighting the importance of synergy between state archives, public organisations and the volunteer community.
Concluding the discussion, the participants reiterated that preserving historical truth requires ongoing collaboration between archives, the scientific community, public organisations and international partners. The Russian Red Cross Tracing and Information Centre has remained a key link in this work, helping families find the answers while waiting for years and keeping their memory alive for the those who survived the war.
