Information about an ancestor's feat can be found at the exhibition as part of the "Unity Marathon" in Vitebsk
The creators of the exhibition are the publishing house "Belarus Segodnya" and the National Archives of the country.
As Elena Khodyko, head of the development department of the publishing house "Belarus Segodnya," explained, the exhibition is based on materials from the unique internet project "Partisans of Belarus." The exhibition features photographs from the Great Patriotic War, descriptions of battles and engagements, award sheets, and combat records of both famous brigade commanders, Heroes of the Soviet Union, and rank-and-file soldiers of partisan detachments, including natives of the Vitebsk region.
– On the interactive stand, you can find information about your heroic ancestor who fought the enemy in a partisan detachment during the war, and also download their award sheets, – Elena explained.
Museum employee Ekaterina Bakunova took advantage of this opportunity and found documents detailing the combat path of her father-in-law, Pyotr Bakunov, who fought in Konstantin Zaslonov's brigade.
– We didn't know before what feats he had accomplished, for what he was awarded, and we downloaded the award sheets. Now they will be kept in the family, – said the relative of the hero.
And Olya Yuzhova, a student from Secondary School No. 10, decided to learn about the heroic path of her great-grandfather.
About 200,000 digitized partisan cards have been uploaded to the internet portal's database, the content of which can be accessed by anyone. In total, during its operation, more than 350,000 users have taken advantage of this opportunity.
The exhibition generated interest primarily among young people, for whom guided tours were conducted by Vitaly Garmatny, leading archivist of the National Archives, senior researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.