CHEBOKSARY «COMMEMORATION SITES» AND PRESERVING THE HISTORICAL MEMORY OF THE SOCIETY ABOUT THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR (on the 80th anniversary of the Victory)

In 2025 Russia is celebrating an important anniversary – the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, which further foregrounds the need to preserve the historical memory of it, which is formed and conveyed in the public consciousness thanks to a grandiose set of commemorative practices and «commemoration sites» created everywhere in our country. The purpose of the study is a conceptual analysis of various levels of «commemoration sites» of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 in Cheboksary as a special mechanism for preserving the historical memory of society. Materials and methods. The research methodology is defined in accordance with the principles of memoriology. The object and subject of research is not a historical event, but the historical memory about it. Research attention is also focused on the mechanisms by which it is formed, preserved and passed on to the next generations. The most important role in these processes belongs to commemorative practices and «commemoration sites», which have a close relationship. Both a «commemoration site» can become a base for implementing commemorative practices, and the memorials themselves initiate the creation of places of sacralization of the past. Results. The article analyzes the influence of central, regional and local «commemoration sites» in the process of forming and preserving the historical memory of the Russians about the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 on the example of Cheboksary. «Commemoration sites» of the Great Patriotic War are an integral part of the process of preserving and sacralizing the historical memory of the Russian society. Currently, Russia has a number of central memorial sites: the Grave of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery in St. Petersburg, the Monument-Ensemble «Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad» on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, the Victory Memorial on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow. All of them belong to places revered at the national level, and commemorative practices are carried out on their territory, which have a national scale of significance. A lot of commemorative work has been done at the regional level in all regions of the Russian Federation: monuments, steles, Victory parks with Eternal Flames were erected, museums of the Great Patriotic War were opened, and a number of state cultural and educational institutions were named after the heroes of the 1941–1945 war as a tribute to their fallen countrymen. Commemorative plaques were installed at the municipal level at libraries and schools, and small museums were opened. Cheboksary is a prime example of implementing the regional policy on implementation of commemorative practices and creation of «commemoration sites». They differ in their appearance, scale, and other features, but they perform the same function – they cherish the memory and are the basis for implementing commemorative practices, primarily ceremonial ones. Conclusions. The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 became one of the key events in the Russian history. Actualization and preservation of historical memory about it is one of the most important tasks of state authorities and the society, which are the initiators of constructing «commemoration sites» of central and regional importance. Cheboksary has regional (at the national level, they are of central importance) and local «commemoration sites» that successfully realize the process of actualizing the heroic pages of the Great Patriotic War. Cheboksary’s experience is successfully implemented throughout the republic at the municipal level, where «commemoration sites» exist and continue to be created both in regional centers and in small settlements.