The opening of the inter-museum exhibition "Living Lines of War" took place at the Penza Literary Museum in a warm atmosphere. Before the exhibition's opening, museum guests watched the poignant video clip "Frontline Letters".
Opening the official part of the event, the General Director of the State Budgetary Cultural Institution "Association of State Literary and Memorial Museums of the Penza Region", Natalya Poleva, noted that this inter-museum project is the result of signing a cooperation agreement between the Association and the cultural institution "Brest Regional Museum of Local Lore" (Republic of Belarus).
"This is a continuation of the friendship between the Brest and Penza regions, a continuation of cooperation between the heads of cultural agencies," explained Natalya Poleva.
The exhibition project was created with the direct and comprehensive support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Penza Region. Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Roman Yakupov expressed words of gratitude to the Brest colleagues for the opportunity to get acquainted with such a unique collection, which has historical and local‑history significance.
"If you have letters of this kind preserved in your family archives or albums, keep them until the last moment of your life — they are priceless," the deputy minister addressed the younger generation — the cadets who visited the exhibition. He added that this event gains particular importance in connection with the upcoming Day of Remembrance and Sorrow — the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
Close cooperation with the Republic of Belarus was also noted by the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza Region, Pavel Kulikov. He invited guests to look to the present day, noting that someday the letters children write to the front today may also end up in a museum.
The Director of the Brest Regional Museum of Local Lore, Alexey Mityukov, said that for Belarusians June is notable because on June 24, 1944, Operation Bagration began, during which Belarus was completely liberated from the Nazi invaders.
"Why is the exhibition called 'Living Lines of War'? When you read a letter from your loved one, even if they are thousands of kilometers away, it is as if they are standing next to you," explained Alexey Mityukov, adding that the letters contain the pain of loss and anxiety for relatives, but also faith in our victory.
After the official part ended, the director of the Brest museum gave a tour for the guests. He said that the exhibition displays more than 60 items that tell about the work of the military field post and frontline letters from the Great Patriotic War period. These letters were written by front-line soldiers, natives and residents of the Brest region in 1941–1945. Among the exhibited items, the extensive correspondence of front-line soldiers with their relatives and loved ones is of particular value. The letters were carefully kept in families, and years later some of them were handed over to the museum. These include letters of residents of the city of Brest, participants in the liberation of Belarus, the brothers A.I. and K.I. Butramenko. Anton Ivanovich Butramenko wrote letters to his mother every week. There are nineteen letters from G.M. Karpuk, a native of Brest and a participant in the liberation of his hometown. There are twenty-four letters from V.F. Voytovich, a native of the village of Grushevo in the Kobrin district, to his father, mother, sister and brother. He fought in East Prussia and was killed on January 23, 1945. Twenty-four letters from 1941–1942 of volunteer P.F. Granik were handed over by his son, a resident of Brest.
The exhibition is supplemented with original materials from various collections: documentary, photo-documentary, and object collections. On display are the field bag of the chief of staff of the Molotov partisan brigade of the Pinsk formation D.K. Udovikov and the medal "30 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" of N.A. Bobrik, the pilotka of A.M. Savoshchik and the gymnasterka of P.Ya. Gribany, and a tobacco pouch.
In the final part of the event, there was a screening of the documentary film "Ordered to Live!" by director and screenwriter Irina Maslova — Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor, and head of department at the Penza State University of Architecture and Construction. The film "Ordered to Live" is based on a story that took place 80 years ago on Belarusian territory.
The exhibition will be open to visitors until mid‑August 2024.
