Under conditions of general decline of scholarship and culture level both in Russia and in the world, the population and especially the young people have the vaguest ideas of history. Pseudo-historical theories based upon conspirology, on thirst of people for mystery, provocation and scandal multiply with incredible rate. 

But certainly there are also the cases of deliberate or unintentional history misrepresentation: no doubt the people are available who dislike Russia and interpret its history maximally negatively. The Commission created by the President should seemingly withstand the misinterpretation of Russian history. 

Creation of the commission caused lots of debates right after the moment of publication of the Decree. The Commission got both its supporters and irreconcilable opponents. 

A lot was already said about falsification of Russian history by foreign countries. Purposeful attempts were made to depreciate the role of the Soviet Union in liberation of Europe from fascism, to present the Golodomor exclusively as genocide of Ukrainians but not as common tragedy of peoples of the USSR. Again and again the “historians” appear denying the Holocaust. Unrestrained anti-Semitic propaganda places the responsibility for all the troubles on Earth upon the Jews. 

Many politicians of Baltia, Ukraine speculate on nationalistic moods of some of their citizens and account for all the problems and troubles speaking about intrigues of the deceased USSR and today’s Russia. Those who collaborated with occupation regime and participated in elimination of peaceful citizens are announced new national heroes. 

The fact cannot be tolerated that terrific faults in interpretation of history take place during recent years in our country too. Many politicians, mass media, scientists and literary men whitewash the figure of Stalin, and he is called an “efficient manager” in some manuals. Russia had still not repented of Katyn. History of the Holocaust is not learnt at schools and in colleges and the authorities do not respond to mass anti-Semitic, anti-Caucasian, anti-Western publications where ethnic groups, states, famous historical figures are presented in deteriorative and deceitful light. Anti-Georgian hysteria that took place 3 years ago became a disgrace for the country when lists of Georgian children were composed in secondary schools. Such an ideology often leads to street violence, growth of activity of young nationalists, radicalization and marginalization of the country. 

Unfortunately public organizations and scientists demonstrate passivity in estimation of historical facts recently. No broad social-political discussion is conducted. In comparison with the period of perestroika, interest of society towards literary, historical journals decreased, there is no mass demand for high-quality, intellectual TV. The single TV channel “Culture” is obviously insufficient for the whole country. 

Many archives in Russia are not declassified yet. The fact that all the burial places of those perished during the World Wars I and II are still unknown does not promote the preservation of historical memory either. Their names are not immortalized, and memorials and museums devoted to them are in a sad state. Veterans of war and victims of Stalin’s repressions still do not get proper support from the state. Not only the large-scale memorial to the victims of totalitarian regime is still unavailable in Moscow but the Stalinism itself is not dethroned completely, the comparative estimate of two regimes – Stalin’s and Nazi ones – is not conducted, and Molotov-Ribbentrop pact is not comprehended. The totalitarian regime got no its own Nurnberg procedure since start of perestroika in the country. 

All these deficiencies and faults in historical estimates promote the triumph of semi-truth, political adventurism under the guise of historical “truth”. 

The civil society has not yet matured in Russia and is unable to create the barrier for untruth. And when the society is silent, the state takes over the initiative. 

The created Commission, except estimation of facts of desecrating the memory of the Great Patriotic war, can initiate the historical studies, enable opening the archives, enlightening of Russian citizens via mass media and increasing their educational level. The work of the Commission should promote the growth of interest towards learning the history, and development of the system of grants for young scholars who would come to forgotten archives and libraries makes sense. 

But while the concrete tasks and forms of the Commission activity are not determined, some apprehensions appear. 

How would the Commission estimate some historical facts when even authoritative historians, political scientists did not reach the unity in their estimation? Four interpretations of the notion “historical fact” at the minimum exist among the specialists in history methodology! 

First of all, such subtle matters should be clarified as “history falsification” and “detriment of interests of Russia”. The view of history is most subjective and determined by a complex of cultural-religious-ideological preferences of its specific bearers. Thus, we face the “Orthodox” and “anti-Orthodox”, “Communist” and “anti-Communist” vision of history. 

The Communists treat the October revolution as an enormous good and the liberals – as an enormous evil. Correspondingly the judgment concerning any historical fact would directly depend on the concrete membership of the commission and its advisers – whether liberal or Communist views are close for them. 

Do numerous abruptly critical works of the past and the present, for example the works by P.Ya. Chaadayev or A.K. Tolstoy, contemporary reflections of democrats about the “authoritarian” past of Russia or patriotic stories about its “glorious” past, cause damage to Russia? 

And it should be noted that the Commission includes, with rare exceptions, not historians but mostly officials who hardly know the historical science profoundly. What experts would be preferred by the commission members, to what extent the politics would weigh upon them - the more so as legislation on expert examination is not practically developed and the institution of expert examinations is developed most poorly in Russia? 

One should remember that out public prosecutors already acknowledged the book by the outstanding English historian H. Trevor-Roper “Hitler’s Table Talk” extremist just due to the fact that fuhrer’s statements were cited there. 

Obscurantism and false sciences unfortunately prosper all over the world. And in democratic society only education can combat such a phenomenon most efficiently. Legislative bans of ideologies of even most radical orientation like fascist one never yielded tangible results if not accompanied by a public recognition of their danger. 

It’s most important for the Russian authorities to pay attention to concrete manifestations of fascist ideology in our country, racist and xenophobic appeals and actions, acknowledge the necessity of introducing broad educational programs when the schoolchildren would be told about victims of Nazi and Stalin’s policy, about GULAG and the Holocaust, about necessity of the society humanization. History can’t be unambiguous, and one must reveal its dark and light spots maximally objectively. The clear, unequivocal position towards misanthropic statements of the president of Iran must be expressed, as well as repentance of Katyn, condemnation of Stalinism that caused evil both for his people and peoples of Europe. 

Sensible policy based upon democratic and humanistic principles being integral for a civilized country, is required for this.