The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus hosted the Republican scientific and practical conference «State policy in the field of history: problems and prospects for preserving historical truth and memory»
On September 14, 2023, the Republican scientific and practical conference «State policy in the field of history: problems and prospects for preserving historical truth and memory» was held at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.
The conference was organized by the Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, and the Belarusian State University.
Before the start of the conference, its participants were able to familiarize themselves with the banner exhibition «Without a Statute of Limitations», an exhibition of archival documents reflecting important historical events in the history of Belarus, including the formation of Belarusian statehood, the foundations of the constitutional system and the electoral system (from the funds of the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian State Archive film, photo, and sound documents), an exposition of publications of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus on historical and patriotic topics.
The conference was opened by the Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus I.P. Sergeenko, who read out the greeting of the Head of State to the participants of the event.
At the plenary session, reports were made by the Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus I.P.Sergeenko, the rector of the Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus V.V.Danilovich, the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus A.K.Stuk, the General Director of the state institution «National Library of Belarus» V.F.Gigin, director of the state scientific institution «Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus» N.L.Myslivets, rector of the educational institution «Mogilev State University named after A.A.Kuleshov» D.V.Duk.
The work of section No. 1 of the conference «Scientific and theoretical support for the implementation of state historical policy in the Republic of Belarus», which was held under the leadership of Academician-Secretary of the Humanities and Arts of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus A.A.Kovalenya, was attended by the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management O.L.Voinov, director of the state institution «National Archive of the Republic of Belarus» A.K.Demyanuk, director of the state institution «National Historical Archive of Belarus» M.M.Glushakov, director of the state institution «National Historical Archive of Belarus in Grodno» T.Y.Afanasyeva, director of the institution «Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents» A. N. Gonchar.
During the work of the section, reports were made by the director of the Department of Archives and Records Management O.L.Voinov and the director of the state institution «National Archive of the Republic of Belarus» A.K.Demyanuk.
In his report «Archives – the Institute of National Memory of Belarus» O.L.Voinov noted that in today’s world the role and importance of archives is steadily increasing. Domestic archives acquire the status of institutions of national memory of the state.
In the work of archives, the task of bringing to the forefront to our citizens, the public in general, the historical truth about the history of Belarus in relation to different chronological periods is increasingly coming to the fore.
Based on their general strategy – to provide the maximum opportunity for remote access to archival documents, state archival institutions come to various public groups through the implementation of exhibition and publication projects, through radio, television, and the World Wide Web.
Among the new forms of activity of state archival institutions, the following stand out:
— republican action «Archives for School» and pilot project «Young Archivist»;
industry virtual project «Cities of Belarus»;
— projects «Biography of My Country» and «Open Film Archive», implemented by the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents.
Among the publication projects, the multi-volume publication «Without a Statute of Limitations» was noted. Belarus: crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices against civilians in the occupied territory of the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War» and a joint publication with the Belarusian Telegraph Agency «Archives. Nothing but the truth».
The conference participants were informed that on the eve of the national holiday of the Republic of Belarus, National Unity Day, a presentation of the Internet site «Documentary Chronicle of Belarus» (domain name www.letopis.by) will take place.
The main functions of the website are the provision and search of thematic information (political, economic, social and cultural life of the country, from 1919 to the present). The historical focus of the site’s materials corresponds to the main stages of the process of formation and development of Belarusian statehood.
The Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management noted that all approaches used by archives must be comprehensive in order to further popularize archival heritage, expand access to archival documents, and convey objective information about our history.
In the report «Publishing activities of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus – an important direction in the work to preserve historical truth and memory» A.K. Demyanuk spoke about the work of the archive in implementing publication projects, noted the high and mutually beneficial level of cooperation with the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, and also with Russian colleagues, he focused on the role that the archive’s publishing products play in the patriotic education of youth, as well as in the formation and development of civil society in Belarus.
As a result of the conference, a draft resolution was adopted, which, among other things, emphasized that it is possible to create immunity in society against attempts to distort and falsify the historical past only through targeted systematic work and interaction of the family, educational institutions, government bodies, archival institutions, scientific and public organizations, media for the preservation and transmission of objective historical knowledge.
