The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus opened a documentary exhibition «Years of Great Trials» at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus

On June 22, 2026, at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter – NARB) opened a documentary exhibition «Years of Great Trials», dedicated to the Day of National Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War and the Genocide of the Belarusian People.

June 22, 1941 is the saddest date in the history of the Soviet Union, as it was then that the Great Patriotic War began, which became the most important and decisive part of the Second World War. That day, at 4 o’clock in the morning, Hitler’s Germany, in violation of the non-aggression pact, treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. Massive airstrikes were carried out on airfields, railway junctions, naval bases, places of deployment of troops and peaceful cities, up to 250-300 kilometers from the border. The first to receive the enemy’s blow were border guards and advanced units of cover troops. None of the border outposts surrendered to the enemy and did not leave their area without an order. The defenders of the Brest fortress covered themselves with heroic glory.

Already on the first day of the war, under the leadership of P.K.Ponomarenko, an emergency meeting of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the CP(b)B was held, during which the issues of defense organization, the transition of party organizations to underground work in areas occupied by the enemy, and the provision of assistance to the Red Army by the population were discussed.

The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus presented archival documents at the exhibition: intelligence reports and special messages of the People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs of the BSSR L. Tsanava about the situation on the border and the adjacent territory in 1941; Resolutions of the Military Council of the Western Special Military District on preparation for the construction of defense structures and on the supply of the Red Army; detailed notes of the secretary of the Brest regional committee of the CP(b)B M.N.Tupitsyn to the Central Committee of the CP(b)B and the Central Committee of the CP(b)B about the situation at the front in the Brest–Kobrin direction; unique military maps showing the deployment of German troops on the eve of the attack on the Soviet Union; personal and award letters of participants of the partisan movement.

Leading researcher of NARB, Phd V.G.Mazets introduced the employees of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus to the documentary exhibition.

1. Documentary exhibition «Years of Great Trials» at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus

2-5. Archival documents at the exhibition

6. Employees of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus familiarize themselves with the exhibition

7. Leading researcher of NARB V.G.Mazets introduces the exhibition of employees of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus