The unique mobile museum 'Victory Train' has arrived in Vitebsk
I had the opportunity to see the "Victory Train" at the platform of the Belorussky railway station in Moscow on May 10. I observed the long queue of people wishing to board the echelon of memory about the terrible war, which has remained an incurable wound in the hearts of several generations. I watched as volunteers helped elderly people with medals on their chests to board the train. Perhaps some of them, in the fiery 1940s, were sent to the front in a similar railway train or were enrolled in a medical train and traveled along the war roads, saving wounded soldiers.
And now the "Victory Train" has made a two-day stop in Vitebsk. And a queue also formed for it, which did not decrease throughout the day. Entry to the carriage is free, only by invitation tickets.
Before the first excursion, a rally was held on the station square, in which the leadership of the region and the city, representatives of the Vitebsk branch of Belarusian Railways, the public, and labor collectives took part.
– It is symbolic that the train began its journey at the Belorussky railway station. It visited 38 cities of the Russian Federation, and more than one hundred thousand people visited it. From June 11, the mobile museum arrived in Belarus. This is a unique exhibition, it cannot leave anyone indifferent. After all, there is not a single family that this terrible war has not affected. And no matter how much time passes, the memory will live forever in our hearts. The feat of the Soviet people is immortal, – said the Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies Vladimir Terentyev in his speech.
Stepping into the first carriage is like turning back the decades and entering another era – June 1941. Then, every step immerses you in history. The door to the vestibule opens a new page of the military chronicle. The exhibition is built on extreme authenticity. No museum in the world features such a number of multi-figure sculptural compositions depicting real individuals, such as Marshal Rokossovsky, beloved by soldiers, who received his Marshal's star and later the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for Operation Bagration. Or the German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, captured after the Battle of Stalingrad. The creators of the "Victory Train" – a group of St. Petersburg artists from the "Nevsky Battalist" creative workshop – selected and reconstructed thousands of historical photographs, and created complex figurative groups. The sculptures are absolutely realistic, made using a unique technology. Original clothing and equipment from the 1930s-1940s were used for uniforms and civilian attire. In addition, high-quality museum copies were made from authentic materials.
Thanks to light and sound effects, breathtaking aerial battles and massive tank attacks, scenes of soldiers' field life, and quiet memories of peaceful pre-war times are recreated. All this makes the exhibition more poignant and the feelings from what is seen – more acute.
The guests are greeted by the famous actor Dmitry Kharatyan (his holographic image appears on the multimedia panel), who invites them to listen to the memories of the train driver Lidia. This is a fictional character, but her story is based on the real events and destinies of many people who survived the horrors of war and the joy of Victory.
The museum administrator Regina Ishmulina said that she was most impressed by the details that are not immediately noticeable:
– I had to walk through the train with excursions several times to grasp the connection that the creators of the exposition laid. For example, the sculptures found in the first, pre-war, carriage, reappear in the last – victorious one. In the sculptural groups, you can recognize famous military leaders, writers, and artists. The level of detail is admirable and impressive.
Each recreated scene carries a huge emotional charge. Tears welled up in my eyes before the figures of young soldiers, to whom a political instructor was showing a form for filling out a death medallion. Even today, such metal capsules are found. And how many nameless heroes were left lying in the ground!
One cannot pass by indifferently the installation depicting the defenders of the Brest Fortress, whose figures are sculpted from stones and merged with the citadel wall.
Anatoly Linevich, Aide to the President – Inspector for the Vitebsk Region, shared his impressions after visiting the exhibition:
– "The Victory Train" is a story, a train of memory. The exhibition concentrates all the events of the Great Patriotic War. Our people must never forget this. This is our victory, of our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers.
The Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Vladimir Penin, also shared his impressions:
– The exhibition is important primarily for the youth, for patriotic education. It is a pity that not many people will see it, the throughput of the museum on wheels is small, considering the security measures due to the pandemic. But, I think, this project will live on, and will return to Belarus.
After Vitebsk, "The Victory Train" will go to Polotsk, and on June 21, the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, it will arrive in Brest.