On holding an international round table dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory between the institution «State Archives of the Gomel Region» (RB) and the Central State Archives of the Republic of Mordovia (RF)

On April 23, 2025, at the initiative of the Russian side, a ceremonial event was held via videoconference – an international round table «Let’s Preserve the Memory of the War Together» between the institution «State Archives of the Gomel Region» and the Central State Archives of the Republic of Mordovia.

The participants of the event from the Belarusian side were: representatives of the Main Department of Justice of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee; heads and archivists of the state archives of the Gomel region, heads of public organizations and museum workers of the Palace and Park Ensemble of Gomel; scientists and teachers of the Francisk Skaryna Gomel State University; secondary school students and other invited guests.

The participants of the round table from the Russian side were: representatives of the Ministry of Culture, National Policy and Archival Affairs of the Republic of Mordovia; Saransk branch of the Representative Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Nizhny Novgorod; representatives of public associations; scientists from the Research Institute of Humanities under the Government of the Republic of Mordovia, museum researchers, archivists and schoolchildren.

Deputy Minister of Culture, National Policy and Archival Affairs of the Republic of Mordovia Nikolai Bychkov addressed the participants with a welcoming speech. He congratulated everyone on the upcoming holiday of the Great Victory. Greetings and congratulations were also heard from the participants from the Belarusian side.

Deputy Director of the Central State Archives Evgeniya Chinkova spoke about the unique historical documents of the Mordovian region. Head of the Department of Scientific Information and Publication of Documents of the Central State Archives of the Republic of Mordovia Natalya Tereshina spoke about the electronic publication «In Unity and Friendship is the Strength of Nations» about the cooperation of residents of Mordovia and the Byelorussian SSR during the Great Patriotic War. During the meeting, it was proposed that the archives cooperate in replenishing the electronic publication.

The speech of the research fellow – head of the history department of the Research Institute under the Government of the Republic of Mordovia, Doctor of Historical Sciences Tatyana Guseva covered in detail the labor feat of the residents of Saransk during the Great Patriotic War. Interesting information about the partisans – natives of Mordovia, who defended Belarus, was heard from the speech of the head of the school museum Ivan Grishechkin.

From the Belarusian side, the following spoke in the videoconference: Director of the State Archives of the Gomel Region Yuri Shestopalov about the heroic feat of the Soviet people at the front and in the rear and the role of archives in preserving historical memory.

Archivist of the 2nd category of the State Archives of the Gomel Region Victoria Rudenko prepared a report «Gomel Region and the Republic of Mordovia: brotherhood in the fire of the Great Patriotic War». She spoke about the evacuation of Belarusian children to Mordovia during the offensive of the Nazi invaders, as well as about the restoration of the national economy of the Gomel region and the assistance of the fraternal people of Mordovia.

Senior researcher Maya Vaschenko spoke about the fund of the State Archive of the Gomel Region «Collection of filtration cases and trophy documents on former prisoners of war and repatriated Soviet citizens», which is a source base on the history of the genocide of the Belarusian people.

Summing up the videoconference, Deputy Main Department of Justice of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee Andrei Gurzhiy, in his speech, especially noted the importance of preserving historical facts and preventing the rewriting or distortion of historical events related to the period of the Great Patriotic War. The memory of the war is a huge responsibility to the past and the future. The modern generation must remember the heroism of those who gave a peaceful sky at the cost of their lives. Our common task is to convey the memory to our descendants.

The meeting ended with wishes for peace, friendship and cooperation in the field of archival affairs.

1. Director of the State Archives of the Gomel Region Yu.Shestopalov at the international round table event «Let’s Preserve the Memory of the War Together»

2. Chairman of the Novobelitskaya District Organization of the ROO «Belaya Rus» Lyubov Tkach delivers a welcoming speech

3. Speech by Deputy Minister of Culture, National Policy and Archival Affairs of the Republic of Mordovia Nikolay Bychkov

4. Archivist of the 2nd category V.Rudenko of the State Archives of the Gomel Region delivers a report

5. Senior Researcher of the State Archives of the Gomel Region M.Vashchenko talks about the filtration case fund

6. Participants of the round table of Mordovia

7. Deputy Main Department of Justice of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee A.Gurzhiy sums up the results of the international round table «Let’s Preserve the Memory of the War Together»