The National Archives of Belarus stages an exhibition on 95th anniversary of Minsk City Council

To mark the 95th anniversary of Minsk City Council of Deputies, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus has prepared an exhibition entitled Minsk City Council. Historical Landmarks. The archive records cover nearly a century ’s activity of this important organ of democracy, beginning from March 1917 when the Minsk council was founded as a socio-political organization and a representative body of workers and soldiers to the present time, when the Minsk city council is a public authority of local self-government in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

The exhibition tells about the activity of the Council in different historical periods, the forms and conditions of work of the deputies, the changes in the life and appearance of Minsk.

The unique handwritten minutes of the first meetings of the Council and the newspaper publications give an insight into the complicated way of the formation of Minsk Council in the years 1917-1920. In addition to archival documents there are photographs of organizers, leaders and active members of the Council, whose names are well known to Minskers as they have been perpetuated in the names of Minsk streets. Most of them tragically perished in the year 1937.

Of great interest are the documents in which the deputies report of their activity in the 1920s. In order to be accessible to the then population with a low level of literacy, these reports were made in the form of coloured diagrams and drawings. Of no less interest are the personal records of the council members: questionnaires, identity cards, membership cards, reports of explanation etc.

The illustrations and photographs of the city streets and buildings and an old map of the city show the changes in the appearance of Minsk from the provincial town in the beginning of the 20th century, destruction in the Second World War to the modern megapolis – the capital of independent Belarus in our days.

The focal point of the exhibition are the documents illustrating the activity of the elected representatives of the people, whose aim in all times was and always remains the same – to improve the well-being of citizens on the basis of national interests.

The Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings and the State Archives of Minsk Region actively participated in the preparation of the exhibition.