An international round table dedicated to the history of Soviet state security agencies during the Great Patriotic War was held at the National Archives

On October 20, 2023, the International Round Table “State Security Bodies of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War (on the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Gauleiter W. Kube) was held at the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (NARB). The forum was organized by NARB, Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents (BGAKFFD), Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (II NAS of Belarus), Polotsk State University named after Euphrosyne of Polotsk(PolSU).

The forum participants were shown a thematic exhibition of documents “The Hunt for the Gauleiter”, as well as captured newsreels from the funds of the BGAKFFD.

The event was attended by leading specialists in the history of special services from the Academy of National Security of the Republic of Belarus, NARB, Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, BSU, PolSU, heads of republican and regional archival institutions, students, students of gymnasium No. 21 in Minsk, leading media outlets of the Republic of Belarus. The international component of the forum was presented by scientists from St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don. Five doctors and seven candidates of science took part in the scientific forum.

In his opening remarks, Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.L. Voinov noted: “The study of the history of state security agencies during the Great Patriotic War was practically not carried out for a long time, especially with the use of archival materials, which were, and many are now, in closed storage. And with the collapse of the USSR, another extreme has been observed – denigration and “throwing mud at” the work of state security agencies. In Russia in the 1990s, this actually became a real and planned campaign – through the media and cinema.”

Director of NARB A.K. Demanyuk noted the increased scientific component in the work of the archive, emphasizing that in 2023 this will be the third International Round Table on the history of the Great Patriotic War, organized by NARB.

Leading Researcher of the Publications Department of NARB, Ph.D. V.D. Selemenev presented the report “Documents on the destruction of Gauleiter Wilhelm Kube: unknown and known.” Head of the Publications Department of NARB, Ph.D. S.V. Kulinok made a report “Features of the training of German reconnaissance and sabotage agents in the occupied territory of Belarus in 1941-1944.”

The participants’ presentations sparked a lively and constructive discussion.

1. Director of NARB A.K. Demyanyuk and Head of the Publications Department of NARB S.V. Kulinok is introduced to the Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.L. Voinova with the exhibition “The Hunt for the Gauleiter”

2. Welcoming speech by the director of NARB A.K. Demjanjuk

3. Welcome speech from the Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.L. Voinova

4. During the round table