Happy Independence Day of Belarus!

Dear colleagues and friends!

The Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art (hereinafter referred to as BGAMLI) sincerely congratulates you on the main holiday of our statehood – Independence Day! According to the decision of the republican referendum and the Decree of the President No.1 of 1996, Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus is celebrated on July 3. It was on this day in 1944 that the Red Army liberated the Belarusian capital Minsk from the Nazi invaders.

The liberation of the BSSR began in the fall – early winter of 1943. At the end of May 1944, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command approved the plan of the Belarusian offensive operation, codenamed «Bagration», developed by the General Staff of the Red Army. The troops of the 1st Baltic and three Belorussian fronts were given strategic and political tasks: to eliminate the enemy salient in the Vitebsk-Bobruisk-Minsk direction, defeat and destroy a large group of enemy armies «Center», and liberate the entire territory of the BSSR. The organization of interaction between front-line units and partisan detachments and brigades was of great importance. The

Belorussian offensive operation began on June 23, 1944. On the morning of July 3, the Guards Tank Corps of Generals A.S.Burdeyny, A.I.Vovchenko and M.F.Panov entered Minsk. By the end of the day, the city was completely cleared of the enemy. To the east of Minsk, a 105,000-strong group of occupiers was surrounded. Its liquidation continued until July 11, 1944. Fierce battles unfolded not only near Minsk, but also in the areas of Vitebsk, Polotsk, Bobruisk, Grodno, Bialystok, Brest. It is believed that the liberation of Belarus was finally completed on July 28, 1944, with the capture of Brest by units of the Red Army.

For Independence Day, the Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art prepared a presentation of part of the thematic selection of photographs from the personal collection of the 500th Foundation of the outstanding historian and archivist Vitaly Vladimirovich Skolaban (1947 – 2011). They are copies of the originals selected by Vitaly Vladimirovich for publication in encyclopedic and scientific publications, and reflect the events of the Belarusian offensive operation of 1944. The collection is of interest not only as evidence of specific events, but also as a reflection of the vision of the researcher, a representative of the so-called «post-war generation» and thus symbolically and conceptually unites modern citizens of our country with direct eyewitnesses of the liberation of Belarus.

1. Residents of Minsk meet Soviet tankers

2. Crossing the Western Dvina near Vitebsk

3. Destroyed enemy equipment near Bobruisk

4. Offensive during the Minsk operation

5. Minsk «cauldron»

6. Street fighting in Grodno