Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings

Photo exhibition: Vasily Arkashev. My War

The Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings holds many historic documents which bear authentic witness to the events of the Second World War. Among the Archives’ holdings is a collection of photographs taken by Vasily Arkashev during the war (in all, 508 photoprints). A photo reporter for the army newspaper “We shall destroy the enemy” and then with the front line newspaper “The Red Army Truth”, Arkashev fought battles from Minsk to Moscow and from Moscow to Konigsberg (now Kaliningrad). The photographer’s war routes passed through Moscow, Smolensk, Belarus, Lithuania, East Prussia and other areas, where he continuously took photographs.

Arkashev’s photographs provide invaluable evidence for the Second World War. These depict many combat episodes, everyday life in the army, river crossings and attacks, medical work, interrogations of prisoners. Of great interest are photographs depicting the early days of the war, when the 100th Infantry Division resisted the Nazi attack in the area of Ostroshitski Gorodok and along Logoisk Highway. Many of these photographs highlight the events relating to the Battle of Moscow, the liberation of Gzhatsk, Vyazma, Dorogobuzh, Elnya, Smolensk, and other areas.

The photographic documents selected for the online photo exposition entitled “Vasily Arkashev. My War” (in all, 30 photographs) are remarkable for their artistic power and historical precision. They have high information value and increase awareness of our archival heritage on this war, which is especially important in the days when we celebrate 65 years since Belarus’ liberation from the Nazi occupation and the 65th anniversary of victory in the Second World War.

The photo exhibition is prepared by the staff of the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings; web design and photographs layout is created by G. Z. Dashkevich, senior research assistant at the Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records.

Any copying, printing, reposting or other use of the photographs on this page is prohibited without permission in writing from the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings.