Participation of a delegation of Belarusian archivists in the event of the Business and Cultural Complex of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation

On February 21, 2024, a delegation of Belarusian archivists led by the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.L.Voinov took part in the next event, organized by the Business and Cultural Complex of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation.

The delegation included Director of the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus A.K.Demyanuk, Director of the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents A.N.Gonchar, Head of the Publications Department of the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus S.V.Kulinok.

On the eve of the event, negotiations were held between the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management O.L.Voinov and representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation and the Business and Cultural Complex.

During the negotiations, a discussion took place of the prospects and directions for further cooperation between the state archives of the Republic of Belarus and the Business and Cultural Complex, including the organization of annual exhibitions both at its base and other venues, as well as elaboration of issues related to the implementation of the exhibition project «Formation of Belarusian Statehood» planned for July 2024 year and dedicated to the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus.

As part of the main event, the Belarusian delegation presented banner exhibitions «We survived and won» and «The Land of Courage and Glory», as well as copies of archival documents from the National Archival Fund of the Republic of Belarus, dedicated to the history of the creation of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War.

The main objective of the project was to bring to the attention of invited foreign guests, diplomats accredited in the Russian Federation, representatives of the media and other event participants information about the activities of the state archives of the Republic of Belarus, aimed at establishing the historical truth about the history of the Great Patriotic War, preventing its revision and falsification .

In his speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibitions, the director of the Department of Archives and Records Management O.L.Voinov emphasized that in Belarus they treat the heroes of the Great Patriotic War with great respect. At the same time, recently we are increasingly faced with attempts to rewrite the history of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War, to devalue the feat of Soviet soldiers and partisans who bore the brunt of the war years on their shoulders and defeated Nazism.

O.L. Voinov drew attention to the fact that a special role in opposing the emerging processes of revision of historical events belongs to archives, which are the «custodians» of the main documentary heritage of our country – irrefutable primary sources for the study of history and culture.

Today, the state archives of Belarus publish numerous collections of documents on various aspects of the Great Patriotic War, prepare banner, stand and virtual exhibitions, organize conferences, round tables, and actively work with the media. This is evidenced by the exhibitions «Land of Courage and Glory» and «We Stood and Won», as well as digital copies of documents on the history of the partisan movement.

Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus A.K.Demyanuk noted that the archive is the main custodian of documents on the history of the partisan movement on the territory of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War.

During the years of Nazi occupation, 374 thousand Belarusian partisans bravely fought against the invaders. The memory of these heroic events is preserved by documents, the total volume of which exceeds 20 thousand storage units.

A.K.Demyanuk reported that the funds of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus have recently been replenished with new documents on the history of partisan warfare. On June 29, 2023, in a forest near the village of Gotsk, Soligorsk district, documents of the partisan brigade named after. Lenin, Pinsk region.

The director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus noted that over the past 30 years the archive has published more than 80 different collections on the history of the Great Patriotic War.

The head of the publications department of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, S.V.Kulinok, specifically focused on the projects being presented, and introduced those present to the documents used in the exhibitions.

The speakers noted that in preparing the exhibitions, documents from the funds of the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents, as well as materials from Russian archives were used.

The exhibitions tell about the heroic episodes of the struggle of the Belarusian people at the fronts and in the rear.

During the event, its participants were presented with copies of archival documents telling about the formation and development of the partisan movement in the occupied territory of Belarus (directives, orders, diaries of partisan formations, partisan drawings, portraits).

Director of the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents A.N.Gonchar informed the event participants about the projects being implemented by the archive, in particular the «Open Film Archive». During the event, the film «Partisan Republic», prepared as part of this project, was presented.

The film was created on the basis of newsreel and documentary materials from the funds of the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo and Sound Documents and is dedicated to the organization and development of the partisan movement in the territory of Belarus occupied during the Great Patriotic War.

At the end of the official ceremony, representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation were presented with a set of six documentary collections from the series «Without a Statute of Limitations. Belarus» about the crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices against the civilian population of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War.

The expositions of Belarusian archives presented in the Business and Cultural Complex aroused genuine interest among the participants of the gala event. At the request of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation, banner exhibitions, newsreels and copies of exhibited documents were transferred to the temporary use of the Business and Cultural Complex for further exhibition in the Russian Federation.

The exhibitions «We survived and won» and «The Land of Courage and Glory» became another cultural and educational project aimed at upholding the historical truth about the Great Patriotic War and a significant contribution to debunking pseudo-historical hypotheses.