On the opening of the exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Gzhatsk from the Nazi invaders «Spring of the forty-third year» with the participation of the Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents

On March 6, 2023, in the local history department of the FGBUK «Museum-Reserve of Yu.A. Gagarin» (Russian Federation), within the framework of the historical and patriotic project «Relay Race of Memory», the exhibition «Spring of the Forty-Third Year», dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Gzhatsk from Nazi invaders, opened.

One of the sections of the exhibition tells about the childhood of Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, which took place during the war years, about how the war influenced the formation of the personality and worldview of the world’s first cosmonaut.

In the second section, archival documents tell about the Gzhatchans – participants in the Battle of Stalingrad, who, together with the entire Soviet people, forged a common Victory over the enemy. Front photographs taken by V.I. Arkashev, became the semantic center of the entire exhibition. His unique photographs are a kind of chronicle of the Great Patriotic War, in which the photojournalist participated from the first day, passing the front roads from Minsk to Moscow in 1941 … and back from Moscow through Gzhatsk, Minsk and further to Koenigsberg. Vasily Ivanovich Arkashev captured the harsh time of the war and the destroyed Gzhatsk forty-three years with the lens of his Leika.

The institution «Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents» (hereinafter – BGAKFFD) provided for the organization of the exhibition 13 units of photo documents and a newsreel with a total running time of about 5 minutes, containing historical footage depicting the liberation of the city of Gzhatsk (now the city of Gagarin) in 1943.

The creative group, which included BGAKFFD workers, tried to tell about the incredibly difficult days of the fascist occupation of the Gzhatsk (front-line) region, using documentary, archival and artistic means.

1. Poster for the exhibition «Spring of the forty-third year» (photo from museumgagarin.ru) (March 6, 2023, Gagarin, RF, BGAKFFD)

2. Exhibition «Spring of the forty-third year» (photo from museumgagarin.ru) (March 6, 2023, Gagarin, RF, BGAKFFD)

3. Photo correspondent of the editorial office of the newspaper «Destroy the enemy» of the 5th Army of the Western Front, Vasily Ivanovich Arkashev, taking pictures during the liberation of the city of Gzhatsk (March 6, 2023, Gagarin, RF, BGAKFFD)

4. Curator of the exhibition «Spring of the forty-third year» N.B. Gagarina (photo from museumgagarin.ru) (March 6, 2023, Gagarin, RF, BGAKFFD)