«Partisans, partisans, Belarusian sons!»
On June 30, 2023, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus opened a documentary exhibition «Partisans, partisans, Belarusian sons!» dedicated to the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus. Our country received the right to be called a partisan republic for an unprecedented patriotic movement in one of the most difficult periods in history – the years of the Great Patriotic War. During the years of the Nazi occupation, over 1,200 partisan detachments operated on the territory of Belarus, where more than 370 thousand people’s avengers fought, who, by their decisive actions, frustrated the plans of the Nazis to plunder the Belarusian lands and drive civilians into slavery, did not allow the establishment of enemy orders here.
The actions of partisans to destroy railways in order to disrupt the operation of enemy transport were called the «Rail War», during which three stages are distinguished (the second is known as the «Concert»). In all three stages, a new tactic was used: not individual sabotage groups, but all detachments and brigades went out to defeat the railways, and the civilian population also took an active part in it. In general, the damage suffered by the Germans during the «Rail War» was so powerful that many of the Nazis could not be repaired, so they could not transfer their military units in a timely manner, which contributed to the speedy liberation of Belarus.
The partisans, together with units of the Red Army, took part in the liberation of many cities in Belarus. Commander of the 1st Baltic Front I.Kh. Bagramyan noted that partisans continued to provide great assistance in obtaining information about the enemy, thanks to which the liberation of Belarus was much more efficient and faster, and unnecessary losses were avoided. Tens of thousands of patriots gave their lives for the freedom of the Motherland, thereby bringing its liberation closer, and ultimately ensuring a peaceful and creative future for us.
This exhibition project presents documents reflecting the facts of the courage and heroism of our compatriots during the war years: combat diaries, partisan oath, reports and stories of partisan detachments and brigades, award lists and characteristics of partisans and underground fighters, archival photos and drawings of partisans – artists, and also personal files of the Heroes of the Soviet Union. For the first time, the archive introduces unique documents on a member of the partisan movement, Hero of the Soviet Union M.A. Egorov, who, together with junior sergeant M.V. Kantaria hoisted the Banner of Victory on the roof of the Reichstag on May 1, 1945 and the leader of the underground group in Gomel, Hero of the Soviet Union T.S. Borodin. The archive contains a personal sheet and a suicide letter from Borodin T.S., written by him before his execution on a bloody handkerchief and handed over to his relatives from prison.
The documentary materials presented at the exhibition are united by the idea that the preservation of historical memory contributes to the self-identification of the Belarusian people, the upbringing of patriotism and a sense of pride in the heroic past.
