MARTINA CARR: Why study history in general and WW2 in particular?

KIRILL ANDERSON: Well, first of all, because we still remember it - although its’ memory is slowly disappearing. Who today remembers the First World War? Or the hundred years war? But, you know, I look at World War Two events differently than my children do – and for my grandchildren it’s again completely different. For them it’s something that happened a very long time ago. For me it’s still very close as both of my parents fought in WW2. And also for me as a historian it’s interesting as it represents the history of extreme politics. People and government living and functioning under extreme conditions, in extreme psychological conditions. Today we study WW2 not so much from a military point of view – we study it as a part of political science. But there are other aspects to it as well. From a medical point of view it is interesting, for example, that during the war people experienced many fewer problems with their stomachs, despite the fact that food during the war was inadequate. So the experts today look into that as well.