The Belarusian delegation took part in the opening of the historical-documentary exhibition and round table “Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. The Riga Peace Treaty of 1921”

On March 16, 2021, the Exhibition Hall of the Federal Archives of the Russian Federation hosted the opening ceremony of the historical-documentary exhibition “The Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. The Riga Peace Treaty of 1921”, organized by the Federal Archival Agency of the Russian Federation (Rosarkhiv), the Russian State Archives of Social and Political History, the Russian Historical Society, with the participation of a number of federal and departmental institutions of Russia, as well as the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus (the Department) and state archival institutions of Belarus. The opening ceremony and a tour of the exhibition on the basis of the Russian State Archives of Ancient Acts were followed by a meeting of the round table “The Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921: the Peace Treaty of Riga 1921”. The events were attended by the Belarusian delegation consisting of Director of the Department Victor Kourash and Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus Andrey Demyanyuk.

The organisers and participants of the historical-documentary project received greetings from President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

S. E. Naryshkin (Chairman of the Russian Historical Society, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation), V. R. Medinsky (Chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation), A. N. Artizov (Head of Rosarchive), V. I. Kourash, P. P. Skorospelov (Director of the Russian State Archives of Social and Political History) delivered welcoming speeches at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

In his speech, V. I. Kourash emphasized the tragic consequences of the Polish-Soviet war and the Peace Treaty of Riga for Belarus and noted the high value of international archival projects for an objective study and understanding of the past.

The Belarusian side presented for the exhibition over 100 copies of archival documents from the collections of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art, the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings and the State Archives of Minsk Region. The exhibition is supported by an Internet project of the same name, which includes full-text electronic copies of archival documents (http://pswar.rusarchives.ru).

During the round table, members of the Belarusian delegation informed the participants about the composition of themes and types of the documentary materials on the subject held in the Belarusian state archives, as well as about the publication, publishing and exhibition work carried out by archivists on their basis. In his speech, A. K. Demyanyuk dwelled on the most significant and interesting documents from the Belarusian archives included in the exhibition project.

As part of the official program of the foreign visit, the Belarusian delegation visited the Russian State Archives of Literature and Art, which included a guided tour of the archives and a meeting with its director O. A. Shashkova and heads of structural divisions. Participants had the opportunity to learn in detail the practical experience of the archive staff in organizing the processes of acquisition, preservation and use of personal records.

The working meeting with the leadership of Rosarkhiv reviewed the implementation of the Plan of Joint Actions of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus and the Federal Archival Agency of the Russian Federation for 2020-2022, agreed on common approaches to further cooperation and participation in international events.

Information about the exhibition on the Archives of Russia Portal is available here.

Speaker: S. E. Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation

Speaker: S. E. Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation

Speaker: V. I. Kourash, Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus

Speaker: V. I. Kourash, Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus

Participants in the opening ceremony of the exhibition

Participants in the opening ceremony of the exhibition

A guided tour of the exhibition

A guided tour of the exhibition

A guided tour of the exhibition

A guided tour of the exhibition

A guided tour of the exhibition

A guided tour of the exhibition

At the roundtable meeting

At the roundtable meeting

At the roundtable meeting

At the roundtable meeting

Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus A. K. Demyanyuk speaking

Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus A. K. Demyanyuk speaking