Excursion at the mobile museum
The museum’s deputy director for Scientific Work, Anna Galinskaya, tells us that it’s taken the past year to select items for the touring museum, to allow even those living in remote areas the opportunity to see key exhibits. She notes that those who live far from the capital might never have the chance to visit the museum, which has inspired the project. She comments, “Vitebsk was the first point in the route, arriving on the eve of Slavianski Bazaar. We’ve received many requests from the regions and are now drawing up a route for the year. We have a cross-country MAZ lorry hosting the exhibits, able to navigate snow and mud, to reach the farthest corners.”
The museum is located in a mobile semi-trailer. Its first section is devoted to the country’s liberation, from September 1943 to February 1944, while the second is about Operation Bagration (Belarus’ strategic offensive) from June 23rd until August 29th, 1944. The third section is dedicated to the co-operation of Red Army units with partisan groups, and the fourth looks at the partisan parade that took place in liberated Minsk on July 16th, 1944.
Rare photos and documents from the museum have been supplemented with maps, posters, newspapers, leaflets and personal items once owned by soldiers. Rare items include partisan group Derout’s banner and a blasting device used to derail more than a dozen enemy trains.
By Boris Orekhov
