«The Harsh Truth of War»: a book and documentary exhibition prepared by the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus and the National Library of Belarus

Today, our state and society honor and preserve the memory of the heroic and tragic pages of the Great Patriotic War. Attempts to revise the results of this war in our republic are broken by the deep scientific argumentation of scientists and the staunch rejection of pseudo-historical hypotheses by Belarusian society. The most compelling argument in any scientific dispute is the primary sources – archival documents and relevant publications.

The book and documentary exhibition «The Harsh Truth of War» is timed to coincide with the Day of National Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War and the Genocide of the Belarusian People, which is celebrated on June 22. The exhibition is a tribute to all those who died innocently in those years, and contains exhibits – publications from the collection of the National Library of Belarus and copies of archival documents of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, which have preserved for posterity authentic information about the high price of the Great Victory and the peaceful life of post-war generations.

The exhibition presents more than 80 documents revealing the essence and content of various forms of genocide used by the fascist invaders during the Great Patriotic War, citing the results of investigations by the Extraordinary State Commission from 1942 to 1945, telling about the peculiarities of the occupation regime in Belarus and the practice of establishing, exposing and condemning the crimes of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices in Belarus and in the world.

In the period from 1943 to 1947, trials of Nazi criminals and their accomplices were held in the USSR. These trials, including those in Minsk, became an important part of efforts to document Nazi crimes and bring those responsible to justice, and also served as evidence for the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. The exhibition features books related to the Nuremberg Trials, which began in November 1945, almost 80 years ago. Also on display are copies of documents from the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, thematic book publications and scientific articles related to the trials of fascists that took place on the territory of Belarus in 1946-1947 – in Minsk, Bobruisk, Vitebsk and Gomel.

This day reminds us of all those who died in battle, were tortured in Nazi captivity, died in the rear from hunger and deprivation. We mourn all those who, at the cost of their lives, fulfilled their sacred duty, defending their Fatherland in those harsh years. The exhibition runs from June 18 to December 31, 2025 in the Mobile Gallery (3rd floor of the National Library of Belarus).

Poster of the exhibition «The Harsh Truth of War»