A discussion on the topic “To the 75th anniversary of the common Victory. The role of Russian and Belarusian culture in preserving historical memory and countering falsification of history” was held on November 27, within the framework of the visit of the Russian delegation to the Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War.
The guests of the event visited the exposition of the museum, the opening of the exhibition of E.A. Chaldea and discussed the main issues of bilateral creative projects of Belarusian and Russian cultural institutions.
Roman Motulsky, Director General of the National Library of Belarus, made a report “Organization of access for a wide range of users to primary sources as an effective means of countering the falsification of history”, where he spoke about a number of library events for the memorable date: creating electronic information resources, holding exhibitions, creative meetings, scientific events and others. In their implementation, the library closely cooperates with institutions of history and culture of Belarus and Russia.
“With the move to a new building and new technological capabilities, our library, together with colleagues from the National Archives, the Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War and other institutions, began to form full-text databases containing electronic copies of documents from the period of the Great Patriotic War. The gained experience and accumulated information allowed us in the current year - the year of celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Victory - to provide users with access to large arrays of full-text information, including many previously unknown or inaccessible to a wide range of users, materials" - said Roman Motulsky.
The speaker paid special attention to the project to create a website about the partisan and underground press in Belarus, for the implementation of which the library received a grant from the President of the Republic of Belarus in the field of culture in 2020.
Motulsky R.S. emphasized the importance of creating a large-scale Internet resource "Underground and Partisan Press of Belarus" to preserve the history of the nationwide feat, as well as to provide open remote access to documents from the funds of the National Library of Belarus - newspapers, leaflets, handwritten materials and wartime wall newspapers.
“The site has about 100 newspaper titles, more than 1,000 newspaper issues, about 150 leaflets and handwritten materials. Thanks to the project, the reader can see with his own eyes the indisputable evidence - historical documents - and take a direct part in it, replenishing the collection with electronic copies of documents from the war period from personal archives” - noted Roman Stepanovich.
As part of the event, Director General of the National Library of Belarus R.S. Motulsky presented the General Director of the Russian National Library Alexander Pavlovich Vershinin with a certificate for the collection of Belarusian publications prepared by the library within the framework of the Belarus Today project. The best literary, artistic, scientific, popular science publications, encyclopedias, reference books and photo albums about our country will replenish the funds of the main library of Russia in the near future.
The panel discussion demonstrates the role of Belarusian and Russian culture in preserving historical memory and countering falsification of history. Such events will make it possible to combine the experience gained and the accumulated body of information for the use of this knowledge between neighbouring countries.
Public Relations Department
