On 13 February, a solemn opening of Valery Makhnach’s photo exhibition "Island of courage and sorrow" dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan was held in Mobile Gallery (3rd floor).
The exhibition will display a part of a unique photo chronicle which has been created by the experienced enthusiast Valery Makhnach for almost 30 years. Pictures reflect the chronology of the "Afghan" movement, the process of creating a monument to soldiers-internationalists who have died in Afghanistan (Valery Makhnach is one of the creators and designers of the memorial "Island of Courage and Grief" which is located at the Trinity suburb in Minsk).
At the opening of the exhibition Chairman of the Republican public association "Belarusian Union of Afghan War Veterans" Valery Gayduchevich noted that pictures reflected the history of the union: many would see themselves young in these pictures, and many had died already. "We are proud that veterans of the Afghan war are well treated in our country," said he in his welcoming address.
Chairman of the First Minsk City Council-Club of ex-servicemen "Memory" Pavel Shetko shared his memories about distant, but still revoke heartache war and postwar days. "We I had returned from the war, I felt obliged to tell the young generation who wanted to go voluntarily to Afghanistan, where they were going to serve. I realized that these young men were not physically ready for war... We began to create clubs to prepare guys, and thereby we saved many lives," said the veteran.
Visitors of the exhibition could feel the incessant mother pain and fraternal grief of military comrades whose every word had turned these pictures in history, in a separate existing reality with succession of events, ever leaved scars in their hearts. The participants paid tribute to soldiers-internationalists by a minute of silence.
The veteran of World War II Ilya Gorbatchevsky, who for the second time had participated in Valeria Makhnach’s exhibition, also gave tribute to soldiers who had been killed in Afghanistan. "I was attended the first exhibition about thirty years ago, – recalled Ilya Gorbatchevsky. – The exposition was dedicated to the partisans and was mobile, as the present one, it was able to be shown in villages." According to his words, Valery Mahnach is a man who has devoted his life to the memory of the past events, has done tremendous work on preserving the history for centuries, and "memory shapes personality, forms of patriotism."
The author of the photo exhibition was not involved in the fighting. As a son of a veteran of the Stalingrad Front, he has been among war veterans since childhood. In the 60s–80s, Valery Makhnach organized search expeditions to martial places, "star trips" to places of the Fame; he was an active member of the All-Union campaign on visiting places of glory of the Soviet people; he took part in the patronage of veterans of World War II.
To the anniversary date the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus and the Republican Unitary Enterprise "Belpochta" prepared postal project that contained ASE and a special commemorative stamp as a respect for the memory of the Soviet soldiers who had honorably fulfilled his military duty in Afghanistan. The ceremony of memorable cancellation was attended by Deputy Chairman of the public association "Union paratroopers Belarus" Valery Mahnach, First Chairman of the Minsk City Council-Club of ex-servicemen "Memory" Pavel Shetko and Chief publishing center "Marka" "Belpochta " Irina Shipilova.
Valery Makhnach’s photo exhibition is available in the Mobile Gallery (3rd floor) of the National Library of Belarus.
Telephone: (375 17) 293 27 56.
E-mail: pr@nlb.by
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