14th meeting of archivists from Bryansk and Gomel regional archives took place in Vetka, Gomel Region

The traditional, 14th meeting of archivists from Bryansk (Russia) and Gomel (Belarus) regional state archives took place in Vetka, Gomel Region on 26 June 2015.

The round table was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.

Belarusian archivists acquainted their Russian colleagues with a new collection of published documents “Gomel Region in 1943-1953: Documents and Materials”. The book has been prepared by the State Archives of Public Organisations of Gomel Region in collaboration with the State Archives of Gomel Region and the Local State Archives in Mozyr. The book offers 134 documents, most of which have been published for the first time. The book is illustrated with photographs selected from the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, the State Archives of Public Organisations of Gomel Region, the Gomel Palace and Park Ensemble State Historical Cultural Institution and Newspaper Gomelskaya Prauda.

The archivists from Bryansk Region (Russia) told of their documentary research into the memorial complex in the area of the former village of Rechechka, Klintsy district, Bryansk region – analogue of Belarusian Khatyn.

During the retreat on 23 September 1943 the Nazi invaders executed and burned all residents in the village of Rechechka, including babies and old men. The symbolic concrete doorways have been installed on the site of former houses in the destructed village. The plates on the door posts show the name and age of everyone who once lived there.

As part of the archival event the guests were shown the sights of Vetka and visited the Shklyarov Museum of Old Belief and Belarusian Traditions in Vetka.