The State Archives of Vitebsk Region received documents from the Vitebsk Patriotic Club “Search”

The State Archives of Vitebsk Region received documents from Larisa Brueva, head of the Vitebsk Patriotic Club “Search”.

The event took place on February 24, 2022 in the Vitebsk Regional Palace of Children and Youth as part of the activities dedicated to the Year of Historical Memory.

Larisa Brueva is a member of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Veterans on Commemoration of Fatherland Defenders and War Victims, member of the Coordinating Council of the International Association of Public Search Associations “National Memory about the Defenders of the Fatherland”, winner of the honorary title “Man of the Year Vitebsk-2011”, local historian.

Members of the “Search” club, led by Larisa Brueva, during a ski trip along the route Vitebsk – Minsk – Soligorsk – Luban – Zyslov Island – Zhlobin – Vitebsk were received in Minsk at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus by Pyotr Masherov. This meeting marked the beginning of the search activities. The words by Pyotr Masherov became the motto of the search: “Not a single name of a soldier, partisan, underground fighter, not a single name of a woman or child who fell victim to fascism should be bypassed, missed or forgotten!”

Larisa Brueva devoted many years of her life to the preservation and restoration of historical truth: she organised trips with young people, memory watches, and most importantly, she searched for the remains of soldiers and officers who had been reported missing for many years.

The State Archives of Vitebsk Region received the documents collected over the years of the search. First of all, these are the data of all the soldiers, whose identity was established during the search. The Archives also received reports on the activities and numerous articles (both written by Larisa Brueva herself and dedicated to the activities of searchers and the reburial of the found remains of Soviet soldiers.

The documents are an important documentary source about the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War.