About events dedicated to the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, as well as the Day of Defender of the Fatherland and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus on February 21, 2024, employees of the Zonal State Archive in Polotsk took part in the round table «Our memory cannot be erased over the years.»
The event was prepared and organized by the team of the Museum of Military Glory of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve and the Polotsk regional veterans organization. Veteran of the Great Patriotic War Alexander Filippovich Rastopchin, internationalist soldiers, military personnel of Polotsk military units, and students of the Polotsk Cadet School took part in the round table.
The memories of the relatives and friends of those who defended the honor and independence of our Motherland during the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War were especially touching. The daughters of war veteran, participant in the Polotsk front-line offensive operation Viktor Iosifovich Yakaitis – Svetlana Viktorovna Shelepova and Anna Viktorovna Averchinkova – addressed the audience with a welcoming speech; daughter of the famous Polotsk resident, war veteran Mikhail Stepanovich Grinevich – Alexandra Mikhailovna Morozova; daughter of a participant in the Berlin operation, Polotsk resident Boniface Ivanovich Eronko – Galina Bonifatievna Smolyak; daughter of Hero of the Soviet Union Stepan Afanasyevich Pashkevich – Svetlana Stepanovna Kolosova, son of Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Ivanovich Eronko – Pyotr Viktorovich Eronko.
On February 23, 2024, a rally dedicated to the Day of Defender of the Fatherland and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus was held on Freedom Square in the city of Polotsk at the monument to the «Liberators of Polotsk». Members of the labor collective of the institution «Zonal State Archive in Polotsk», together with other participants of the rally, paid tribute and gratitude to the soldiers who defended the independence of the Motherland during the Great Patriotic War – they laid flowers at the foot of the monument to the Liberators of Polotsk.
