New arrival of documents on the history of the Great Patriotic War in the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus – for the 80th anniversary of the Victory

On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter – NARB) received documents of the institution «Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War» from 1944 to 2005 for permanent storage in the amount of 554 files (fund No.1246, inventories No.8 and 9). These documents, including materials from the scientific archive, enriched the NARB documentary complex on the heroic events and tragic pages of the Great Patriotic War, as well as on the perpetuation of their memory.

A large group of the received documents reflects the history of the formation of the museum’s expositions and describes the museum’s collections, for example, collections of partisan banners and partisan handwritten journals. The development of museum activities is evidenced by the scenarios of excursions for different years, guides to the museum halls, as well as exhibition and thematic-exposition plans transferred to the archive. Of great importance are the scientific research and popular science developments of the museum for its more than 80-year history: manuscripts of monographs and articles by museum employees, including unpublished ones, biographical information on outstanding figures of the partisan and underground movement, participants in the liberation of Belarus, Heroes of the Soviet Union and Socialist Labor – natives of Belarus, lists of memorial places of the October Revolution, the formation and development of the BSSR, the Great Patriotic War, and others. Of particular interest are the minutes of the meetings of the museum’s artistic council for 1945-1949, which can be used to study the history of the creation of famous works of art on military themes, for example, the paintings by I.O. Akhremchik «Meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Belarus in Liozno» and E.A. Zaitsev «Parade of Partisans in Minsk». In addition, the significant role of the museum and its branches in international activities is reflected in documents on the visit of US President R. Nixon in 1974, on participation in an anti-war exhibition in Japan in 1987, and others.

The NARB also received copies of documents on the history of the Great Patriotic War, in particular, information and acts of the Belarusian Republican Commission for Assistance in the Work of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Investigation and Establishment of the Atrocities of the Nazi Invaders and the Accounting of the Damage Caused by Them. In addition, copies of documents related to the history of preserving the memory of the Great Patriotic War were transferred to the NARB. Some of them have not been published before, for example, the minutes of the meeting of participants in the partisan movement in the BSSR on the issue of collecting memories from March 25, 1958, at which valuable information was voiced about the memorialization of the heroic feat of the partisans and underground fighters of Belarus. The speeches of I.D. Vetrov, P.Z. Kalinin, V.Z. Korzh, V.I. Liventsev and other participants of the meeting contain memories of the events of the Great Patriotic War, and also emphasize the need to intensify work on collecting materials and writing the history of the Belarusian partisan and underground movement.

Thus, the documents newly received by the NARB are of undoubted historical significance and will be a valuable gift for researchers and all those interested in the history of Belarus for the 80th anniversary of the Victory.

1. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 314. L. 96.

2. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 314. L. 97.

3. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 314. L. 132.

4. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 42. L. 3.

5. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 42. L. 4.

6. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 42. L. 6.

7. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 42. L. 7.

8. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 5.

9. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 6.

10. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 7.

11. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 16.

12. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 17.

13. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 18.

14. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 19.

15. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 2. L. 20.

16. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 21. L. 1.

17. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 9. D. 21. L. 2.

18. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 10. L. 13.

19. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 10. L. 33.

20. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 10. L. 35.

21. NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 10. L. 42.

22. List of speeches at a meeting of participants in the partisan movement in the BSSR on the issue of collecting memoirs (NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 188. L. 1a.)

23. Speech by the former commissar of the 255th partisan regiment of the 8th Rogachev brigade A.N. Zakharova at a meeting of participants in the partisan movement in the BSSR on the issue of collecting memoirs (NARB. F. 1246. Op. 8. D. 188. L. 13.)