On the extended meeting of the board of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus
On February 2, 2024, an extended meeting of the board of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus was held, at which the results of the work of the archival industry of the Republic of Belarus for 2023 were summed up and tasks for 2024 were defined.
The work of the board was attended by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus S.N.Khomenko, Chairman of the National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus I.M.Eismont, Head of the Office of Records Management and Protocol Work of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus N.V.Shastilovskaya, Head of the Department for Supervision of the Investigation of Particularly Important Criminal Cases of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Belarus, Colonel of Justice V.V.Tolkachev, Deputy Head of the Information Department of the Main Directorate of Ideological Work in the Armed Forces Forces of the Republic of Belarus Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, Colonel D.A.Fedorov, Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Candidate of Historical Sciences V.L.Lakiza, editor-in-chief of the magazine «Belarusian Thought» I.S.Goncharuk, head of the Department of Source Studies of the Faculty of History of the Belarusian State University S.N.Khodin, head of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus B.N.Gorkavy.
The report was made by the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management O.L.Voinov.
The Director of the Department noted that in the Year of Peace and Creation, one of the main activities of the industry was the implementation of instructions from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus to strengthen information and educational activities, intensify work on the use of documents from the National Archival Fund and strengthen the material and technical base of archival institutions.
All tasks of the Government of the Republic of Belarus and decisions given at the final meeting in February 2023 were completed by the industry.
The state archives accepted 124,399 files from organizations for permanent storage.
During the reporting period, 1 million 600 thousand electronic pages were produced.
During the analyzed period, 326 exhibitions were organized and held.
In 2023, 147 virtual exhibitions will be posted on the websites of state archival institutions.
The intensity of this work has allowed the industry to fulfill 84% of the five-year plan in just three years.
In 2023, the main thematic areas were: coverage of the history of Belarusian statehood, the heroism of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War, and the crimes of the Nazi invaders.
The most large-scale exhibitions were «History of the development of the electoral system of the Republic of Belarus», «100th anniversary of the Supreme Court», as well as «90th anniversary of the official opening of the Government House»
As part of the virtual project «Cities of Belarus», 41 exhibitions have been prepared (there are 115 cities in the Republic of Belarus).
In 2023, active work was carried out on the construction and reconstruction of additional space for archival institutions by the main departments of justice of the Vitebsk, Gomel Grodno, and Mogilev regions. In subsequent years, this will make it possible to eliminate the debt of more than 800 thousand storage units to acquisition sources and improve the conditions for storing documents.
During the implementation of the «Biography of My Country» project, 190 videos were created, of which 114 were prepared in 2023 (66 in 2022). These videos are posted on YouTube video hosting and telegram channels of ATN_News and the Ministry of Justice.
In development of this work, a new project «Open Film Archive» has been formed, the goal of which is to popularize the history of Belarus in society. The first cycle is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders and the archive of film, photo and sound documents created 8 social advertising videos within the framework of the project.
Currently, the number of broadcasts of these videos in cinemas and public places in the republic is more than 100 thousand.
The second direction of the project was the preparation and organization of film lectures dedicated to anniversaries. To date, 6 documentaries have been created for their organization, dedicated to the liberation of the capital of Belarus, Minsk, and five regional centers: Brest, Gomel, Vitebsk, Grodno and Mogilev.
In 2023, two pilot film lectures were organized on the topics: «State symbols of the Republic of Belarus» and «Liberation and revival of the Belarusian capital».
As part of the republican action «Archives-School», over 950 events were organized and attended by more than 14 thousand schoolchildren and students.
In development of this action, a new pilot project «Young Archivist» is being implemented. For these purposes, each archive is assigned an educational institution, with which an agreement has been concluded and work is carried out in specialized classes of a social and humanitarian orientation. In 2023, 150 events were held.
In November 2023, the Boomerang movie marathon was opened in the Republic of Belarus as part of the socially significant project «Without a Statute of Limitations: The Unconquered». The event was organized with the participation of the interregional public organization «Children’s Media Association Boomerang» (Russian Federation) and the archive of film, photo and sound documents.
The event was attended by 250 Belarusian students from 16 educational institutions.
The project is a continuation of systematic work with young people and is aimed at filling the media space with content that prevents distortion of the history of Belarus and Russia.
In 2023, archival institutions prepared 14 publications. The main direction of publishing activity is to reflect the theme of the Great Patriotic War, the genocide of the Belarusian people.
The Ministry of Justice, together with the Belarusian Telegraph Agency, published a new collection of archival documents «Archives. Nothing but the truth». This project became a book of memory for the millions of civilian victims killed during the war.
Pursuant to the instructions of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, the Internet site «Documentary Chronicle of Belarus» was created in 2023, the main purpose of which is to present an objective information picture of the history of Belarusian statehood based on primary sources – documents of the National Archival Fund of the Republic of Belarus. For 2023, the site contains 352 events from the period 1919–1953, which include 392 archival documents.
On the website «Partisans of Belarus» there are 217,658 electronic pages listed on participants in the partisan movement.
The section «Maps of partisan battles and operations» is constantly updated. There are currently 101 maps with descriptions posted.
The database of the website «Belarusian villages burned during the Great Patriotic War» has increased (there are 9,194 settlements destroyed by the Nazis).
The content of the website «Official Heraldic Symbols of the Republic of Belarus» continued. Their total number in the database is 2,642 characters. In 2023, 83 official heraldic symbols were entered into the State Heraldic Register of the Republic of Belarus.
State archives fulfilled 30,933 requests. The number of visits to the reading rooms of the archives amounted to 21,747 citizens.
In accordance with the instructions of the Minister of Justice, the Department of Archives and Records Management, together with the main departments of justice, organized the «Best Reading Room of the State Archives» competition from September 1 to November 30, 2023.
In December 2023, the results of the competition will be summed up and today the winners will be awarded challenge prizes.
The first places were taken by:
among the republican archives – National Archives of the Republic of Belarus;
among regional archives – State Archive of the Vitebsk Region;
among zonal archives – Zonal archive in Rechitsa.
In the reporting year, for the first time in the industry, the development of video lessons in the main areas of work was organized. 31 video lessons were created by 28 state archival institutions. The materials are posted on the website «Archives of Belarus».
Archival institutions continued to work on restoring original archival documents. The total volume of restoration and repair of archival documents amounted to 660,307 sheets.
As part of preventive and precautionary measures, the state archives held 148 seminars on archival and record keeping issues in 2023, and provided about 4,700 consultations.
On November 15, 2023, for the first time, the Ministry of Justice hosted a republican seminar-meeting «Topical issues of the activities of territorial (city and district) archives of local executive and administrative bodies».
Last year, 23.9 million rubles were allocated for the development and strengthening of the material and technical base of state archival institutions (from the republican budget – 6.9 million rubles, from regional (Minsk) budgets – 17 million rubles).
As part of our international activities, we have traditionally developed the closest cooperation with our Russian colleagues.
On October 4, 2023, a joint meeting of the boards of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus and the Federal Archival Agency (Russian Federation) was held in Minsk. During the work of the boards, the issue «On working with documents of personal origin in the state archives of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation» was considered.
Fruitful cooperation was established with colleagues from the Republic of Tatarstan. In May 2023, our departments signed a roadmap on cooperation between archival institutions of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Tatarstan. Memorandums of cooperation were concluded between the State Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan and the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus, as well as the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents.
A comprehensive assessment of the work of state archives for 2023 was carried out.
Based on the results of 2023, the best republican archive was the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus, regional archives – the State Archive of the Vitebsk Region, zonal state archives – the Zonal State Archive in Lida.
The main industry objectives for 2024 for state archival institutions are:
1. Continue explanatory and propaganda work in the teams of archival institutions for the upcoming Single Voting Day in the Republic of Belarus, which will take place on February 25, 2024.
2. In the Year of Quality declared by the Head of State, ensure the quality of work performed in all areas of activity of archival institutions.
3. It is necessary to implement the indicators of the «Culture of Belarus» program on an accrual basis.
4. Organize the implementation of the plan for preparing and conducting events to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of October 5, 2023 No.316.
5. Continue to implement the instructions of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus given on August 5, 2022.
6. Additional main topics for exhibition events are: the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and the 85th anniversary of the reunification of Western Belarus and the BSSR.
7. Ensure the full use of funds allocated in 2024 to strengthen the material and technical base of archival institutions.
8. Continue to improve the qualifications of managers and employees of archival institutions.
After the main report, I.M.Eismont, V.V.Tolkachev, N.V.Shastilovskaya, D.A.Fedorov, I.S.Goncharuk spoke to the participants in the extended meeting of the board.
In his speech, Minister of Justice S.N.Khomenko positively assessed the work of the Department of Archives and Records Management and the archival industry as a whole in 2023.
The Minister of Justice noted that the material support of archivists directly depends on extra-budgetary funds, one of the main sources of which is the fulfillment of genealogical requests.
S.N.Khomenko pointed out the need in the Year of Quality to organize the identification of documents relating to domestic enterprises that were the first to produce products that received the Quality Mark.
The minister emphasized the importance of implementing the «Documentary Chronicle of Belarus» project. According to his instructions, the progress of the project must be included in the decision of the board.
As part of the events associated with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, it is necessary to especially note that each city in Belarus has its own liberation date. This information should be actively communicated to the general public and, above all, to young people.
It was noted that the priorities in the work of state archives should be to ensure the safety of documents, fire safety of archives and premises.
The Minister of Justice positively assessed the use of financial resources by state archival institutions.
At the end of his speech, the Minister of Justice emphasized the importance of the electoral campaign in Belarus, which begins in 2024 and will continue in 2025.
In the second part of the work of the board, the Minister of Justice S.N.Khomenko and the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management O.L.Voinov presented awards to employees of state archival institutions and state archives.
