The joint publication of Russian and Slovak authors, prepared on the basis of an international conference held in Moscow at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in October 2012, addresses the problems of the social consequences of wars and conflicts of the 20th century. and historical memory of this. The authors, analyzing previously unknown archival materials, documents published in Russia and abroad, evidence of oral history, works of art, are trying to recreate the atmosphere of the pre-war, war and post-war years, the complex interweaving of the destinies of the two peoples in the context of world events.