World War II in archival documents (collection of digitized archival documents, film and photo materials)

On 24 June 2025 the Сollection of digitized archival documents, film and photo materials World War II in Archival Documents, posted on the Presidential Library portal was replenished with new documents from federal and departmental archives of Russia, which cover the events of the period from the end of the Prague offensive operation of the Red Army to the Victory Parade held on Red Square in Moscow on 24 June 1945.

The documents related to the preparation and holding of the Victory Parade on 24 June 1945 represent a significant part of the new addition to the Collection. Among the most important of them are the order of Supreme Commander-in-Chief J. V. Stalin of 22 June 1945 No. 370 on holding the Parade (from the fonds of the Russian State Military Archive), the original text of the speech of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, who hosted the Parade, and the album "The scheme of formation of troops during the solemn march at the Victory Parade on 24 June 1945", compiled in 1947 by the Office of the Commandant of Moscow (from the fonds of the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History). From the holdings of the Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of Russia are presented the instruction of the Moscow Commandant's Office for the parade in honour of the Victory over Germany dated 12 June 1945, samples of passes and invitation tickets for the reception in honour of the participants of the Victory Parade in the Grand Kremlin Palace on 25 June 1945. From the collections of the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents - photographs of the Victory Parade and the festive salute in Moscow, as well as a fragment of the colour documentary film "Victory Parade" (1945).

Documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation are represented by reports, summaries, reports, maps and logs of combat operations of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts and their subordinate units, reflecting the course and results of the Prague offensive operation. Also included in the Collection are: a description of aviation operations during the storming of the fortress and the city of Königsberg on 6-9 April 1945, compiled by the headquarters of the 1st Air Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, a report of the 3rd Air Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front on aviation support of the Königsberg operation and a report of the Political Department of the 3rd Belorussian Front on the elimination of the East Prussian grouping of the enemy from October 1944 to May 1945.

A number of documents from the fonds of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reflect the activities of Soviet troops in the Far East and on the border with Manchuria in May-June 1945: intelligence reports of the headquarters of the Transbaikal Front, operational directives of the headquarters of the Primorsky Group of Forces, report maps of the position of the Red Army units and the troops of Japan and Manchzhou-Go. Of particular interest is the report of the commander of the Transbaikal Front R. Y. Malinovsky to J. V. Stalin on the grouping of troops of the front for the upcoming offensive operation in Manchuria (18 June 1945).

The documents of the Soviet intelligence agencies stored in the Archive of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service are represented by agency reports (cipher telegrams) received from Soviet intelligence officers in Berlin and London - on the state of affairs in German cities and towns; on the identification of the corpses of A. Hitler and J. Goebbels and the circumstances of Himmler's death; on the position of British Prime Minister W. Churchill on the desirability of the USSR's early entry into the war with Japan, etc. The documents of the Soviet intelligence agencies, which are stored in the Archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, are represented by agency reports (cipher telegrams) received from Soviet intelligence officers in Berlin and London. Among the intelligence documents there are a number of reports of the USSR Commissar of State Security V. N. Merkulov addressed to Stalin, V. M. Molotov and L. P. Beria, including the content of the telegraphic correspondence between W. Churchill and the US President G. Truman and British Foreign Minister E. Eden about the post-war arrangement of Europe (19 May 1945), about the US position towards Japan (24 June 1945). From the fonds of the Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of Russia is presented a number of reports of the head of the GUKR "Smersh" V. S. Abakumov to the GKO of the USSR on the arrests of employees and agents of German intelligence agencies.

A significant number of documents from the fonds of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation) reflect the course of the International Conference in San Francisco convened by the USSR, the United States and Great Britain, held from 25 April to 26 June 1945. These are mainly cipher telegrams of the head of the Soviet delegation at the conference, USSR Ambassador to the United States A.A. Gromyko on the course of discussions on the draft Charter of the United Nations (UN). The original of the Declaration on the defeat of Germany and assumption of supreme authority over Germany by the governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, signed in Berlin on 5 June 1945 by Marshal of the Soviet Union G. K. Zhukov, Field Marshal of Great Britain B. L. Montgomery, General of the U.S. Army D. Eisenhower and General of the French Army J. de Latrome de Tassigny, is also presented from the fonds of the OHR of the Russian Federation. There are photographs from the funds of the Russian State Archive of the Russian Academy of Culture and Arts, depicting the signing of the declaration.

The Collection also includes decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and resolutions of the USSR SNK, stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GA RF), including: "On awarding orders to formations and units of the Czechoslovak Corps" (28 May 1945), on awarding the Order of Victory to Marshals of the Soviet Union L. A. Govorov, S. K. Timoshenko, Army General A. I. Antonov (31 May, 4 June 1945), General D. Eisenhower and Field Marshal B. L. Montgomery (June 5, 1945), "On the establishment of the medal "For Valorous Work in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"" (6 June 1945), "On the Establishment of Medals 'For the Capture of Budapest', 'For the Capture of Koenigsberg', 'For the Capture of Vienna', 'For the Capture of Berlin'" (9 June 1945), "On privileges for participants of the Patriotic War entering higher educational institutions and technical schools" (13 June 1945), "On the work of Moscow enterprises on 24 June 1945" (22 June 1945). 

The Collection World War II in Archival Documents, posted on the portal of the Presidential Library, includes documents on the prehistory and history of the Second World War from 1933 to 1941 and the main stages of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

In September 2025 the Collection World War II in Archival Documents on the portal of the Presidential Library will be enriched with new documentary materials about the end of the Second World War in the Far East and the victory over militaristic Japan.

!!! Please note that the materials presented in the project contain shocking details and descriptions of atrocities and abuse of civilians; The photograph shows mass graves and the exhumation of remains. In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, these visual materials are prohibited for viewing by children under 16 years of age, as well as by persons suffering from nervous and mental illnesses.

Archival documents of the Collection World War II in Archival Documents are available from anywhere in the world thanks to the Presidential Library’s portal. Especially for the foreign audience, the titles and annotations to the documents as well as the texts of the accompanying articles are also available in English.

In addition to digitized archival documents the Collection contains a list of the main Internet projects, databases, other thematic online documents, virtual tours of the history of World War II, developed by government agencies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and various organizations.

Executive institution: Federal Archival Agency (Rosarkhiv)

Operator: Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library of the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation

Participants:

Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation (AVP RF)

Russian State Military Archives (RGVA)

Russian State Archive of the Navy (RGAVMF)

Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI)

State Archives of the Russian Federation (GA RF)

Russian State Archives of Contemporary History (RGANI)

Russian State Archives of Film and Photo Documents (RGAKFD)

Russian State Archives of Economy (RGAE)

Russian State Archives in Samara (RGA in Samara)

Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (CA MO RF)

Foreign Intelligence Service Archives of the Russian Federation (Archive of SVR)

Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (CA FSB)

German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv)

National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (NARB)

Belarusian State Archives of Film and Photo Documents (BGAKFFD)

Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art (BGAMLI)