Mysteries of Tehran-43 and Yalta-45 disclosed at an exhibition in the Presidential Library

The Presidential Library’s exhibition makes available issues on big event happened in the life of Winston Churchill in Tehran in 1943; the allies Stalin invited to the building of the Soviet Embassy in Iran; what dishes of Russian cuisine the English and Americans especially liked during the conference in Yalta in 1945. On November 28, 2018, the exposition “Eureka” and “Ostrov”: Teheran-43 and Yalta-45 began are opened in the building on Senate Square. The history of landmark decisions”, timed to the 75th anniversary of the Tehran Conference.

“This exhibition allows us not only to preserve history, but also to present different views on events, thanks to which we can draw our own conclusions, put together our own opinion on what was happening and not use various interpretations”, - Director of the M. Gorky Research Library Marina Karpova said at the opening of the exhibition. “In addition, this is a very good example of humanitarian cooperation between archives and libraries - guardians of the memory of mankind, based on real documents”.

The director of the Bard College of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences Programs of St. Petersburg State University, Michael Freeze, emphasized that the exhibition was another stage in the development of cooperation between the Presidential Library and the educational institution: “This autumn, in Bard College, a course on relations between Russia and America Tehran Conference is taking place. Students of this course worked in the archives of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and selected interesting materials for this exhibition. Employees of the Presidential Library, in turn, will take part in a symposium on Anglo-Soviet relations, which will be open in New York within the next few days”.

Attendees of the Presidential Library can learn about unique historical documents telling about operations "Eureka" and "Ostrov". It was under such code names that the most important meetings of the heads of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - the “Big Three” - were held in Tehran in 1943 and in Yalta in 1945. These are correspondence of participants of the Big Three, little-known photographs from protocol and unofficial events, transcripts of world leaders' conversations, detailed reports about the preparation of the meeting, including security. Colorful posters and leaflets from the collection of the National Library of Russia demonstrate the cohesion of the Allies, their confidence in the inevitable victory. The exhibition is complemented by authentic items of the time, newsreel footage, scenes from feature films, and modern documentary photography.

Partners of the exhibition are the National Library of Russia, the M. Gorky Research Library, the St. Petersburg State University, Bard College, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum).

The materials were also provided by the branch of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (archive of the Navy, Gatchina), the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation, the Territorial Administration of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea, the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve, the Livadia Palace Museum, collector Ivan Yesipov.

The exhibition will run until January 11, 2019. To visit the exposition, please, pre-register by phone (812) 334-25-14 or send an e-mail at: excursion@prlib.ru.