A bus with the project
Now, residents and guests of the city, while traveling to their desired stop, can learn about the biographies and portraits of legendary individuals who brought glory to their Motherland with their military feats.
The district center honors the memory of Heroes: streets and educational institutions are named after them. Polotsk has reason to be proud: it has seventeen Heroes of the Soviet Union – each with their own pain, their own story, often a very tragic one. Information about all their exploits is displayed in the bus circulating on city routes. The project literally traces the history of our state from the first Hero of the Soviet Union, Pavel Kupriyanov, who participated in the world's first tank battle during the Spanish Civil War, to the soldier-internationalist, commander of a helicopter squadron, Vasily Shcherbakov, who rescued the crew of a Soviet helicopter and evacuated them from the battlefield in his damaged aircraft. It also includes 15 Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded the high title for feats performed during the Great Patriotic War. Stepan Konoshenko, who fought for over 24 hours in 1943 against the enemy for a captured bridgehead in the Cherkasy region and died while attempting to cross to the left bank of the Dnieper with a report. Medical instructor Zinaida Tusnolobova-Marchenko, who carried 123 wounded soldiers from the battlefield, lost her arms and legs, and became a symbol of unbending will and courage. Stepan Zhukov, who made 138 combat sorties for reconnaissance, assault, and bombing of enemy equipment and personnel, thereby inflicting significant damage on enemy forces. And the scout and liaison officer of the partisan brigade "The Elusive," Tatyana Marinenko, who was brutally tortured by the fascists...
The initiators of the campaign, namely the administration and the trade union committee of the "Polotsk Bus Depot No. 2 of Vitebskoblavtotrans" branch, the district organizations of the Belarusian Union of War Veterans in Afghanistan, the Belarusian Union of Officers, and the city organization of the Belarusian Union of Border Guard Veterans, organized a rally, which marked the starting point for the memory project.
– We have been living under a peaceful sky for 80 years, and our children and grandchildren wake up peacefully, babies smile at their parents, and mothers and fathers hold them. This is family happiness and love under a cloudless sky. Time passes, and the younger generation, who grew up in a peaceful country, sometimes find it difficult to fully comprehend what happened to our ancestors who ensured this prosperous time for us, – said Irina Dyominova, head of the department of ideological work and youth affairs of the district executive committee, during the event. – Therefore, our task is to talk about the fact that their mission was to endure and to walk the military path with dignity and pride. Time chose us to preserve historical truth and convey it to everyone, looking them in the eye, with feeling and emotion, because the main thing is to reach every heart, so that people once again realize who a veteran is and at what cost Victory was achieved.
Andrei Demyanchyonok, great-grandson of Hero of the Soviet Union Andrei Pisarenko, driver at Bus Depot No. 2:
– It is very pleasant to realize that after so many years, the memory of the Heroes who led us to the Great Victory is honored. After all, as our President said, Heroes are alive as long as their names are remembered.
