MINSK, 28 January (BelTA) – The photo exhibition “Towards the Victory” went on display in the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War on 27 January. The opening ceremony was attended by Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic Natalya Kochanova, BelTA has learned.
“The lifting of the siege will forever remain in our memory as a symbol of courage and heroism of the Soviet nation. The 872 horrible days of the siege will forever remain in our hearts. Belarusians understand that tragedy better than anyone because Belarus came under attack first, and everyone to a man stood up to Nazi invaders. We lost a third of the population in the war. The Belarusian president was right when he said that Belarus is a living monument to that war. The memory and the truth about the war are sacred to us. We make every effort to pass this memory and truth down to new generations. We fully realize that there can be no future without the past,” Natalya Kochanova said.
There should be even more such commemorative events, she believes. “I would like to thank those who survived the hardships of the war. Our generation will preserve the memory of the war in our hearts. We will never betray this memory. We will show the whole world that the Belarusian and Russian nations hold the history of the Great Patriotic War as a symbol of unity and pride in our people,” Natalya Kochanova noted. “Dear veterans, Leningrad siege survivors, children of the war, we bow down to your heroic deed. This gives us strength to overcome all challenges. We cannot betray the memory of our older generations and we will never do this. I am deeply grateful to those who survived, who are with us today, and to those, who sacrificed their lives. Believe us, we will never let you down,” she stressed.
The Belarusian museum loaned the photo exhibition “Towards the Victory” from the social and cultural development fund Peterburgskaya Fotoletopis (Saint Petersburg's Photo Chronicles). According to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev, the exhibition features over 100 photos that were taken by war correspondents and participants in those tragic events. “These are the chronicles of the Great Patriotic War, which will help visitors of the museum feel the pulse and tension of those times,” he pointed out.
This exhibition project is an important part of civil and patriotic education of new generations, Belarusian Culture Minister Anatoly Markevich noted. “Visits to this sacred place evoke the feelings of pride and sorrow in us, because the siege of Leningrad, which lasted 872 horrible, agonizing days, was lifted 77 years ago. It claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Today we live in a wonderful country, bringing up children, looking to the future. However, we should never forget the painful lessons of the war, in order to prevent such events from happening again. I wish everyone a peaceful sky, strong health, prosperity and inexhaustible energy. Thank you, dear veterans, for your deed,” he stressed.
A book exhibition also opened in the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War, Editor-in-chief of the Zvyazda publishing house Aleksandr Karlyukevich said. The exhibition showcases books by Belarusian authors and publicists, and editions published with the support of the Belarusian Information Ministry.
Historian, collector, and laureate of the Spiritual Revival Award Vladimir Likhodedov gave the Russian representatives original postcards and letters from residents of the besieged Leningrad to their relatives and friends. Vladimir Likhodedov is also the author of the book “The Siege” that was published in the Belarusian, Russian, and English languages.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition was also attended by Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, Russia's permanent representative at the statutory and other bodies of the Commonwealth of Independent States Andrei Grozov, survivors of the siege of Leningrad, and veterans of the Great Patriotic War.
