BREST, 24 September (BelTA) – Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko presented the staff of the Brest Hero Fortress memorial with the Order of Francysk Skaryna on 24 September. A gala evening on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the memorial took place in the Brest Academic Drama Theater, BelTA has learned.
The memorial complex was awarded by presidential decree for significant achievements in the preservation of historical heritage, perpetuating the memory of the participants of the Great Patriotic War, patriotic education of children and youth. Roman Golovchenko read out the president's welcome address to the memorial staff. The prime minister congratulated the staff on behalf of himself and the government.
According to Roman Golovchenko, the workers of the memorial complex have done a lot to make the world know about the heroic deeds of the defenders of the fortress, return the names of fallen soldiers from oblivion. “Today, when outside forces are trying to bring discord into our society, to revise the lessons of World War II and rewrite its history, the role of historians and museum workers is becoming especially important. These people can and must convey the truth to society, foster love for the homeland, and instill courage in future defenders of the Fatherland. This must be done for the sake of our common future, and for the sake of those who died for the ideals of freedom and independence, so that such tragedies would never happen again. In the Year of People's Unity all Belarusians are entrusted with a huge responsibility to maintain peace and tranquility in our country,” he stressed.
The Belarusian head of government thanked the staff of the memorial complex for the work on the preservation of the fortress and archival search. In his words, there is a lot of work ahead. “The archives are being opened today and the most remote document repositories are becoming available in the virtual space. There are many new sources of information. We need to take advantage of them. It is necessary to continue the research work. I am sure that our persistent search will bring new names of the fortress defenders back from oblivion. This is one of the main tasks of the team,” Roman Golovchenko added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent a welcome address to the staff of Brest Hero Fortress memorial. The document was read out by Consul General of Russia in Brest Igor Konyakin and handed to director of the memorial complex Grigory Bysyuk.
This autumn is special for the Brest citadel. The Brest Hero Fortress memorial was inaugurated on 25 September 1971. On 8 November the Defense Museum will celebrate its 65th anniversary. Over the time, more than 25 million tourists from 140 countries have visited it.
