Opening of the book and documentary exhibition «The Forgotten Genocide. Volyn Massacre 1943-1944»
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the «Bloody Sunday» in Volyn, the opening of the book and documentary exhibition «The Forgotten Genocide. Volyn Massacre 1943-1944».
On July 11, 1943, the action of mass extermination of the Polish population in Volhynia by Ukrainian nationalists reached its climax. On Sunday morning, soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army attacked Polish villages and settlements, brutally killing children, women, and the elderly. In 2016, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland declared July 11 the National Day of Remembrance for the victims of the genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against citizens of the Second Polish Republic.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of one of the most dramatic events for the civilian population of Volyn, the National Library, with the participation of the National Archives, prepared a book and documentary exhibition, the purpose of which is to comprehend the past so that the tragedy does not happen again in the present and future.
The exhibition exhibits about 60 documents from the library’s collection. These are scientific (encyclopedias, collections of conferences) and popular science books, collections of archival documents, articles from periodicals.
The book part is supplemented by a banner exhibition «Without a statute of limitations. Belarus» and copies of documents related to the activities of nationalist organizations in the territories of the BSSR and the Ukrainian SSR in 1943-1944, provided by the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus.
The exposition reflects the view of the events of Soviet and modern Belarusian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian historians, journalists, as well as eyewitnesses of the Volyn massacre. A number of publications and newspaper articles reveal the activities of Ukrainian nationalist organizations on the territory of Belarus in 1939–1953.
The event was attended by the Director General of the National Library of Belarus, Chairman of the Board of the Belarusian Society of Knowledge, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Vadim Gigin, Chairman of the Union of Poles in Belarus, member of the Standing Committee on Legislation of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Songin , member of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on education, culture and science Sergei Klishevich, director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus Andrey Demyanuk, deputy director for scientific work of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Pavel Trubchik, public figure of the Russian Federation Akim Apachev, representatives of ministries and departments, MASS MEDIA.
Photo and material: National Library of Belarus.
