On July 1, the opening of the new archival repository of the State Archive of the Vitebsk Region after repair and reconstruction took place

The solemn ceremony was attended by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus E.I.Kovalenko, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee A.M.Subbotin, Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.L.Voinov, Chairman of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee G.G.Sabynich.

As Evgeniy Iosifovich Kovalenko noted, archives have always been an indispensable attribute, a symbol of statehood, without which there is no history of the country and people, no nation. The highest responsibility of archivists to future generations is to collect and preserve full-fledged archival funds in the interests of the people and the state.

The reconstruction of the building was carried out in 2022-2024 at the expense of the regional budget. More than 5.7 million Belarusian rubles have been allocated for these purposes. The design capacity of the new archive storage is about 400 thousand files.

The building has a freight elevator with a lifting capacity of up to 300 kilograms, which will greatly facilitate the work of archivists. The storage facilities are equipped with modern air conditioning systems and maintenance of temperature and humidity conditions; all specialists’ workplaces are automated.

The opening took place on the eve of Independence Day, the main holiday of Belarusian statehood. On this day, July 3, 1944, the capital of the republic, Minsk, was liberated from the Nazi invaders.

During the event, Deputy Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, Candidate of Historical Sciences Svyatoslav Kulinok presented a unique publication – a collection of documents and materials «Nazi punitive operations against the partisans of the Polotsk-Lepel zone. April – May 1944».

In the foyer of the archive, participants and guests of the event were shown on a demonstration screen two newsreel documentaries prepared by BGAKFFD as part of the «Open Film Archive» project. We brought this day closer as best we could» – «Liberation of Vitebsk» and «Liberation of Belarus».

1. Archival building on Frunze Avenue, 90a

2. Deputy Director of Prof NK LLC Alexander Drabo handed over the symbolic key from the builders to the director of the State Archives of the Vitebsk Region Tatyana Svistunova

3. Opening ceremony

4. Excursion to one of the archives

5. During the presentation of the collection of documents and materials «Nazi punitive operations against the partisans of the Polotsk-Lepel zone. April – May 1944»