On the «State Archives of the Gomel Region» holding a «Single Information Day» at the «Gomel State College of Builders» educational institution

On September 18, 2025, at the invitation of the administration of the «Gomel State College of Builders», Yuri Vasilyevich Shestopalov, Director of the State Archives of the Gomel Region, and Maya Valentinovna Vashchenko, Senior Researcher, held a «Single Information Day» for the college’s teaching staff.

The event was dedicated to the national holiday, National Unity Day, celebrated annually on September 17.

Yuri Vasilyevich Shestopalov’s speech on the origins of the national holiday immersed the teachers in the historical events and facts of the distant year of 1939. As a result of the Soviet-Polish War and the signing of the Treaty of Riga in 1921, the western parts of Belarus and Ukraine became part of the Polish state. The Polish authorities pursued a policy of «cultural suppression» against national minorities, which escalated into mass repression. A fascinating account of the dramatic events at the Bereza-Kartuzskaya concentration camp, created by the Polish authorities in Western Belarus, particularly moved the audience. Approximately 10,000 people passed through the camp from 1934 to 1939. These were people of all nationalities, dissatisfied with the ruling regime. Even citizens who simply spoke their native language—Belarusians, Jews, Ukrainians, and Russians—were sent to the camp.

The event concluded with a screening of documentary video footage from the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo, and Sound Documents. Archival photographs and documents depicted moments of liberation and reunification of the Belarusian people.

1. Speech by Archive Director Yu.V.Shestopalov

2. Participants of the event