Exhibition "Echelons Headed to the Front..."

About exhibition

The exhibition tells the story of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War and the people who forged the Victory in a city far from the front. Perm Krai was distant from the battlefields, but its inhabitants were deeply affected by the war. With the start of mobilization, hundreds of thousands of men went to the front. Dozens of military formations and units that took part in combat were formed on the territory of Perm Krai. Those who remained in the rear supplied the front with everything necessary: weapons and ammunition, clothing and food. About 350,000 evacuees from the western regions of the country were accommodated in the towns and villages of the region. The image of the railway station, where the paths of a huge number of people passing through the city intersect, is the starting point of the exhibition. From here you can go "to the front" or "to the rear" — to the battlefields or to a hospital ward, a classroom, a city apartment... The interior reflects wartime life: blackout-covered windows, a kerosene lamp, ration cards, theatre programs, books from those years, a radio, front-line letters, suitcases stacked one on top of another. If you travel west from the station with a military echelon, you can learn about the major battles, presented through the personal stories of Perm residents who distinguished themselves on all fronts and in all branches of the armed forces. Documents, photographs, awards, weapons, uniforms and other materials from the collections of the Perm Regional Museum tell these stories.