“We are faithful to this memory”: an exhibition of military-patriotic clubs, detachments, and school museums dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory opened in Vitebsk
Military-patriotic search detachments play a special role in preserving historical memory, with their primary objective being to immortalize the memory of fallen soldiers. Behind every relic found by searchers at battle sites lies the fate and name of a person who was considered missing in action all these years.
The Museum of the History of Private Collections in Vitebsk presented a thematic exhibition titled "We are faithful to this memory." The exhibition project was initiated by Larisa Brueva, the chairperson of the Council for the Interaction of Search Detachments of the Vitebsk Region "Poshuk." The exhibition showcases materials on the history of the search movement in the Vitebsk region from 1984 to the present day.
The first search detachments and clubs began to appear in the Vitebsk region in the 1980s: "Iskatel" (Seeker) of Vocational School No. 96 and "Poisk" (Search) of Vocational School No. 19 in Vitebsk, "Razvedchiki voinskoi slavy" (Scouts of Military Glory) of Secondary School No. 2 in Novopolotsk, and "Rusichi" of Vocational School No. 110 in Orsha.
The first "Watches of Memory" and search expeditions in Belarus were conducted in the Dubrovno, Vitebsk, Liozno, Shumilino, and Polotsk districts of the Vitebsk region. Following the first regional search camp for educational institutions held near Lake Losvido, search detachments began to be formed based on the councils of school museums of military glory.
In April 1991, there were about 30 detachments in the Vitebsk region, part of the Vitebsk Regional Association "Poshuk," which was registered by the All-Union Association of Search Organizations "People's Memory of Fallen Defenders of the Fatherland."
The glorious traditions of the search movement in the Vitebsk region, within the framework of the Belarusian-Russian program "Sky of the Motherland," are today continued by searchers from the "Razvedchiki Voinskoi Slavy" detachment of Novopolotsk, the "Gromovtsy" detachment of the State Educational Institution "Secondary School No. 40 of Vitebsk named after M.M. Gromov," and the "Aviapoisk" detachment of Borisov.
Thanks to the work of searchers in the Vitebsk region, the remains of more than 4,000 fallen defenders of the Fatherland have been recovered and reburied over 35 years. Search teams "Iskatel" and "RVS" have found the crash sites of eleven aircraft of the 1st and 3rd Air Armies and Long-Range Aviation, recovered the remains of the crews, and identified and honored their names. Thanks to many years of research work with archival documents, many relatives of fallen soldiers have learned about and been able to visit the places where the remains of their loved ones rest.
The "Zaronye Region History" People's Museum of Vitebsk District, the 39th Army Combat Glory People's Museum at the Educational Institution "Gymnasium No. 5 of Vitebsk named after I.I. Lyudnikov," the 251st Vitebsk Rifle Division Combat Glory People's Museum, the Historical Museum of the Educational Institution "Voronovskaya Secondary School of Vitebsk District named after I.E. Beskhlebny," the People's Museum of the Educational Institution "Secondary School No. 2 of Novopolotsk named after E.A. Trapeznikova," and the Historical and Local Lore Museum of the Educational Institution "Matyushevskaya Basic School of Polotsk District named after P.E. Kupriyanov" actively cooperate with searchers and carry out extensive archival and memorial work.