An exhibition of unique topographic maps of the Vitebsk region from the Great Patriotic War era has been organized by the M. Shmyrev Museum

May 7, Vitebsk / Sergei Kochetov - BELTA /. An exhibition of unique topographic maps of the Vitebsk region from the Great Patriotic War era has been organized for Victory Day by the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Hero of the Soviet Union Minay Shmyrev, the museum's director Irina Shishkova told BELTA correspondent. The exhibition will feature 11 topographic maps of districts and settlements of the Vitebsk region, dated 1923-1942. They allow for the study of the location of settlements in the region that were destroyed during the war and not restored in the post-war period. The historical documents also contain information on the history of the partisan movement during the war, provide an opportunity to trace the combat path and deployment sites of the Red Banner Leninist Komsomol partisan brigade, as well as the 1st Belarusian and 1st Vitebsk partisan brigades. These documents from the personal archive of the former commander of the Red Banner Leninist Komsomol partisan brigade Daniil Raytsev were donated to the museum by the widow of the former brigade commander, Olga Raytseva, and are being exhibited for the first time for public viewing. In addition, the exhibition includes documents from the personal archive of the brigade commander that characterize the activities of the partisan brigade and also allow for tracing the post-war fate of the participants of the partisan movement. The Red Banner Leninist Komsomol brigade was formed in November 1942 on the basis of a detachment under the command of Daniil Raytsev (1914-1996), former land surveyor of the Surazh district. This detachment was organized from Raytsev's group, which had been conducting combat operations in the Surazh, Vitebsk, and Gorodok districts since July 1941. The brigade operated in the Gorodok, Surazh, and Mekhov districts and joined the Red Army units in December 1943 as part of three detachments with a total strength of 363 partisans. In the post-war years, Daniil Raytsev headed the Vitebsk Interdistrict Department of Drainage Reclamation Systems for about 30 years. -0-