«Unbending Man» – for the 130th anniversary of the birth of one of the leaders of the partisan movement in the BSSR, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor Kirill Prokofievich Orlovsky

January 30, 2025 marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of one of the leaders of the partisan movement in the BSSR, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor Kirill Prokofievich Orlovsky.

K.P.Orlovsky, the son of a peasant from the village of Myshkovichi, Mogilev province, lived a bright and extraordinary life. He participated in the First World War, in 1920-1925 he led a partisan detachment in Western Belarus, in 1925-1938 he served in the state security agencies. In 1937-1938 he carried out combat missions during the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans as a commander of a sabotage and partisan group. From October 1942 to August 1943, he successfully led a large partisan detachment, Sokoly, operating in the Baranovichi region. He illegally crossed the front line and the state border more than 70 times. During one of the combat operations, he was seriously wounded, his right arm was amputated at the shoulder and 4 fingers on his left hand.

In January 1945, K.P.Orlovsky was elected chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirovsky district of the Bobruisk region, then the Mogilev region. Under the leadership of K.P.Orlovsky, the Rassvet collective farm became the first millionaire collective farm in the post-war USSR.

A promotional video for the exhibition was posted on the YouTube channel of the BGAKFFD for the 130th anniversary of the birth of Kirill Prokofievich Orlovsky.

Currently, the funds of the Belarusian State Film, Photo, and Sound Documentation Archive contain more than 120 units of photographic documents from 1920 to 1967, 35 units of film documents from 1945 to 1969, 8 units of sound documents from 1952 to 1958, related to the activities of K.P. Orlovsky.

The photographic documents captured K.P.Orlovsky in the circle of his military friends during the civil war, during the farewell ceremony at one of the military airfields of the commander of the partisan detachment V.Z.Korzh to the enemy rear in 1943. The main part of the photographic documents is represented by pictures from the post-war years. They illustrate the activities of K.P.Orlovsky as the chairman of the Rassvet collective farm.

Film documents archives – stories from the newsreels «Savetskaya Belarus», «News of the Day» and documentaries, as well as photo documents, show the activities of the chairman of the collective farm «Rassvet» K.P.Orlovsky. The archive funds contain the documentaries «Rassvet», 1947, «Rassvet Collective Farm», 1951, «Meeting of Friends», 1963, dedicated to the development of the collective farm «Rassvet» of the Mogilev region under the leadership of K.P.Orlovsky.

K.P.Orlovsky himself became the prototype of Yegor Trubnikov, the main character of the feature film «The Chairman», 1964.

The archive’s sound library contains recordings of K.P. Orlovsky’s memoirs about the military operation in Western Belarus in the 1920s, the story of the chairman of the «Rassvet» collective farm in the Kirovsky district of the Mogilev region, Hero of Socialist Labor K.P.Orlovsky about his work, about people, about his devotion to the Motherland and much more.

The heart of Kirill Prokofievich Orlovsky stopped beating on January 13, 1968. He was buried in the village of Myshkovichi, Kirovsky district, Mogilev region. Today, JSC «Rassvet named after K.P.Orlovsky» is a successful agricultural enterprise of the republic.

1. 0-107112. Participants in the partisan movement in Western Belarus: I.G. Romanchuk, Z.D. Abramchuk, K.P. Orlovsky. 1924. Photo library of the State Museum of the BSSR

2. 0-108509. Hero of the Soviet Union, former commander of the partisan detachment “Sokoly” K.P. Orlovsky sees off the commander of the partisan detachment V.Z. Korzh to the rear of the enemy. 1943. Photo library of the studio “Photo and Life”

3. 0-132692. Hero of the Soviet Union, K.P. Orlovsky, chairman of the collective farm “Rassvet” of the Kirovsky district /portrait/. 1947, Bobruisk region. BGAKFFD

4. 0-022882. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirov district, Hero of the Soviet Union K.P. Orlovsky talks with collective farmer N.K. Belyavsky at a building under construction. 1947, Bobruisk region. TsGAKFFD USSR

5. 0-032536. Hero of the Soviet Union, Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirov district K.P. Orlovsky examines calves of the Kostroma breed. July 1949, Bobruisk region. TsGAKFFD USSR

6. 0-042289. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirov district, Hero of the Soviet Union, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR K.P. Orlovsky with his grandson Valery. February 14, 1952, Mogilev region. BelTA photo chronicle, G. Taganovich

7. 0-015183. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirov district, Hero of the Soviet Union, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR K.P. Orlovsky conducts classes in the collective farm’s agricultural club. October 1953, Mogilev region. BelOKS photo library, L. Gesselberg

8. 0-022025. Chairman of the board of the Rassvet agricultural artel in the Kirov district, Hero of the Soviet Union K.P. Orlovsky. February 3, 1954, Mogilev region. BelTA photo chronicle, L. Eidin

9. 0-026526. Deputy chief agronomist of the Kirov MTS A.P. Kuchkov and chairman of the Rassvet collective farm, Hero of the Soviet Union K.P. Orlovsky inspecting fodder cabbage. September 8, 1954, Mogilev region. BelTA photo chronicle, A. Gorelchik

10. 0-031244. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirov district, Hero of the Soviet Union K.P. Orlovsky (second from the right) introduces the participants of the republican conference of collective farm chairmen, thirty-thousanders and invited leaders of the leading collective farms of the BSSR to the long-term development plan of the Rassvet collective farm. November 22, 1955, Minsk. BelTA photo chronicle, V. Lupeiko.

11. 0-075016. First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee N.S. Khrushchev presents the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal to the chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirov district, Hero of the Soviet Union K.P. Orlovsky. January 24, 1958, Minsk. BelTA photo chronicle, P. Novatorov, V. Lupeyko

12. 0-045594. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirov district of the Mogilev region, Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor K. P. Orlovsky, deputy chairman I. I. Tyurkin and secretary of the party organization A. A. Nikitenko sum up the results of the socialist competition. October 5, 1960, Mogilev region. BelTA photo chronicle, V. Lupeyko

13. 0-108397. Hero of the Soviet Union V.N.Druzhinin, twice Hero of the Soviet Union S.A.Kovpak, Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor K.P.Orlovsky, Hero of the Soviet Union V.I.Kozlov, twice Hero of the Soviet Union A.F.Fedorov and Hero of the Soviet Union V.E.Lobanok (from left to right) during a break between sessions of the XXII Congress of the CPSU. 1961, Moscow. Collector V.Kitas

14. 0-104521. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirovsky district of the Mogilev region, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR K.P.Orlovsky with his wife Tatyana Vasilyevna. 1963, Mogilev region. Photo library of the Photo and Life studio

15. E057054. Chairman of the Partizansky Krai collective farm in the Luninets district of the Brest region, Hero of the Soviet Union V.Z.Korzh (left) and chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirovsky district of the Mogilev region, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR K.P.Orlovsky in K.P.Orlovsky’s native village of Myshkovichi. 1963, Mogilev region. Collector O.Korzh

16. 1-003890. Meeting of military friends, Heroes of the Soviet Union, A.E.Kleshchev and Hero of Socialist Labor, chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirovsky district K.P.Orlovsky. July 3, 1964, Minsk. BelTA photo chronicle, V.Lupeiko

17. 0-160209. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirovsky district, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor K.P. Orlovsky among the workers of the Botevgrad Commune in Botevgrad (Bulgaria). 1964, Bulgaria. Collector G. Sinyukov

18. 0-104510. Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm in the Kirovsky district of the Mogilev region, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor K.P. Orlovsky in the collective farm museum. 1965, Mogilev region. Photo library of the Photo and Life studio

19. 0-083357. Delegate of the XXIII Congress of the CPSU from the party organization of the Mogilev region, chairman of the collective farm “Rassvet” of the Mogilev region, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor K.P. Orlovsky in the meeting hall in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. April 6, 1966, Moscow. TASS photo chronicle, V. Egorov, V. Sevostyanov

20. 0-098297. Chairman of the collective farm “Rassvet” of the Kirov district, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor K.P. Orlovsky among the pioneers of the collective farm