On the Rails of History

From December 13 to January 10, the Belarusian Literature Reading Room (No 205) hosts the exhibition "On the Rails of History", dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the Belarusian Railway.

The history of the Belarusian Railway begins on December 27, 1862. On this day, the first Porechye – Grodno railway line with a length of 32 km was opened on the territory of our country. Until 1870, 302 km of railway lines were laid connecting Belarus with Riga, the central provinces of Russia and Poland, and in 1913 – more than 3,800 km.

In the section "For the royal time..." you can get acquainted with the publications of the late 19th – early 20th century devoted to the construction, development and operation of the Belarusian Railway: "Churches, schools and hospitals of the Libavo-Romensk Railway", "Description of the Warsaw-Terespol Railway", "On the construction of the Zhlobin – Mozyr – Ovruch – Starokonstantinov – Kamyanets-Podolsk railway" G. Lashkareva, "Report of the Board of the Dinaburg-Vitebsk Railway for 1868", etc.

During the Great Patriotic War, railway workers were required to concentrate all efforts to evacuate the population and material assets to the east, as well as to ensure the supply of everything necessary for the front. Many of those who remained in the occupied territory joined underground groups and carried out sabotage work at railway junctions and stations, actively fought with the enemy in partisan detachments. In the section "On frontline highways" books by T. Panfilovich "Battle on Rails", M. Skrynnikov "Soldiers of Steel highways", L. Lych are presented "The Eschalons run west. From the history of transportation at railway stations in Belarus (September 1943-May 1945)" and others.

In the post-war period, the Belarusian Railway was restored until 1950. Reconstruction and re-equipment of the railway were carried out, lines were connected to large new buildings: Soligorsk, Berezovskaya GRES, Polotsk oil refining Association, etc. Now the density of the railway network in Belarus is more than 26 km per thousand square kilometers.

Chapter "Steel artery of the country" introduces publications about the rich history of the railway in different cities of Belarus, labor dynasties of railway workers, scientific developments and modern technologies: "The history of the Belarusian Railway. From the 19th century to the 20th century", "Railway of Belarus: History and Modernity","Mogilev Meridian" of V. Yushkevich, "Vitebsk branch of the Belarusian Railway: Stages of development. Historical essay, 1866-2001", "Renewal and development of railway transport in the Belarusian USSR" by L. Lych and others.

The exhibition's opening hours correspond to the library's opening hours.
Admission is by using a reader's ticket or a social and cultural center ticket.

The books presented in the exhibition can be ordered through the electronic catalog of the National Library of Belarus.

Phone number for inquiries: (+375 17) 293 27 16.

The material is provided by the Special Collections Service Department.