Director of the State Archives of Gomel Region Andrey Sushchevich took part in the III Plenum of the Gomel Regional Committee of the Belarusian Trade Union of Workers of State and Other Institutions

On February 16, 2022, at , the Director of the State Archives of Gomel Region Andrey Sushchevich was awarded the Certificate of Honor of the Presidium of the Regional Committee of Trade Unions of Workers of State and Other Institutions for many years of hard work, high professionalism, fruitful activity, active work on protection of labor, socio-economic rights and lawful interests of trade union members.

In his speech, the Director of the Archives noted that the archive documents are a huge spiritual layer that plays an important role in shaping the worldview and national pride not only for the younger generation but for the whole nation. This is why the Archives organizes events aimed at patriotic education of young people with the help of archival documents. Andrey Sushchevich told about the work done and shared his plans for this year. He also invited the delegates of the Plenum and all those interested in the history of their country to the photo-documentary exhibition about the atrocities of the Nazis during the occupation, which was opened in the southern gallery of the Rumyantsev and Paskevich Palace on February 11, 2022. The exhibition is based, among other things, on materials stored at the State Archives of Gomel Region. The atrocities of the Nazis during the occupation of Gomel are testified by the acts of the Extraordinary State Commission, memories of eyewitnesses, testimony of Nazi accomplices, archival documents, photographs and material evidence from places of execution and mass graves of victims of the Hitlerite terror. One of the main items on the Plenum’s agenda was the Declaration of Support for the Referendum on Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. Speaking on the issue, A. N. Suschevich, as a representative of an institution dealing with the preservation of

the documentary heritage of our country, noted that together with the staff he warmly supports the addition to Article 15 of the Constitution, which says that “The State ensures the preservation of historical truth and memory of the heroic feat of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War”. This is extremely fair in relation to what our country experienced, how it survived and won.

A. N. Sushchevich also noted that the staff of the Regional Archives unanimously supported the above Declaration, and invited the state archives to follow this example.

Presentation by A. N. Sushchevich