The Main Department of Justice of the Gomel Region Executive Committee together with the State Archives of Public Organizations of Gomel Region held a meeting at Secondary School No. 3 in Gomel

On 15 March, on the Day of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, the Main Department of Justice of the Gomel Region Executive Committee together with the State Archives of Public Organizations of Gomel Region held a meeting at Secondary School No. 3 named after D. M. Penyazkov in Gomel.

An information hour “the Day of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus” was held in the school museum for students of the 11th military-patriotic class, 9th class and the teaching staff, during which Dmitry Kukharev, deputy head of the main justice department, head of the compulsory execution department, told about the Constitution, the history of its creation, structure, main sections and articles, rights and obligations of citizens, the amendments and additions made.

The director of the archives Natalya Yurievna dwelled on Article 15 of the Constitution “The State ensures the preservation of historical truth and memory of the heroic feat of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War”. She told about the first months of the Great Patriotic War: “In July 1941, on the orders of comrade Stalin, the Gomel people’s militia was formed within ten days in Gomel, which consisted of 2200 men from the party and non-party Bolsheviks.

Despite the acute shortage of arms and uniforms, by 20 July 1941 the militia regiment was fully armed. With the help of industrial organisations and enterprises it was provided with bottles of combustible mixture and anti-personnel mines. More than 35,000 metres of anti-tank ditches and trenches were dug to defend the city of Gomel. Before the enemy approached the outskirts of Gomel, the regiment carried out garrison service, having detained over 115 enemy saboteurs and missilemen”.

The head of the archive’s sector, Natalia Bachura, showed a video from the Belarusian State Archives of Film and Photo Documents about the liberation of the Gomel region. At the end of the event the students got acquainted with the originals of the militia’s personal files.