Presidential Library as participant and co-organiser of All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference with International Participation Front is Deep Behind the Lines

On 29 – 30 April 2025 the Presidential Library is taking part in the All-Russian scientific and practical conference with international participation Front is Deep Behind the Lines, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The conference, which is being held in Kemerovo, is organised by the V. D. Fyodorov State Scientific Library of Kuzbass, the Presidential Library and Kemerovo State University. The event is supported by the Government of the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass, the Legislative Assembly of the Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass, the Ministry of Culture and National Policy of Kuzbass, Kemerovo City Administration.

The aim of the conference is to preserve the historical memory of the Great Victory, to promote the historical and cultural heritage of the Russian regions, including in the electronic environment.

At the opening of the event there were welcoming speeches of Anton Pyatovsky, Deputy Chairman of the Government of Kuzbass (on education, science and youth policy), Darya Repina, Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Kemerovo region - Kuzbass, Deputy Chairman of the regional branch of the Russian Military Historical Society in Kuzbass, Yuri Nosov, Director General of the Presidential Library, Chairman of the St. Petersburg regional branch of the Russian Military Historical Society.

In his welcoming speech Yuri Nosov noted: "In the year of the Great Victory anniversary the preservation of memory about the events of the Great Patriotic War, about those who defended our Motherland acquires special importance. Historians, archives, museums and libraries of Russia are doing a lot to organise free access to reliable materials in order to preserve objective information about the Great Patriotic War".

The struggle for victory was not only on the fronts, but also on the home front. The population of the rear regions worked under the slogan ‘Everything for the front, everything for Victory!’. "Today this theme is being discussed in the capital of the Kemerovo region, which was formed in January 1943, in the harsh wartime. It is very important that the conference is attended by representatives of different regions of Russia," emphasised Yuri Nosov.

The theme of the conference is particularly relevant due to the fact that Kuzbass, along with the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions, is one of three regions of Russia, where four cities (Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Prokopyevsk and Leninsk-Kuznetskiy) have been awarded the high title of the city of labour valour. It was the Urals and Siberia that became the most important military-industrial base of the country.

At the All-Russian scientific-practical conference with international participation Front is Deep Behind the Lines the issues related to the contribution of the home front workers to the liberation of the country from the invaders and the victory over fascism are discussed. These are the history of creation during the Great Patriotic War in the Urals and Siberia of the industrial base of the Victory; evacuation of the largest enterprises from the west of the country to the Urals and Siberia; work of evacuation hospitals and social life of rear regions; cities of labour valour as an example of mass labour heroism and selflessness; the role of archives, libraries and museums in preserving historical memory.

At the plenary session on the first day of the conference, which is attended by historians, archives, libraries and museums staff, teachers, students and free listeners from different regions of the Russian Federation, as well as from Belarus and Kazakhstan, there was a report by Alexei Voronovich, Director of the Department of Scientific and Expert Work of the Presidential Library, Candidate of Historical Sciences. The theme of his speech was ‘Back to Front: on the materials of the Presidential Library's collection World War II in Archival Documents.

During the days of the conference the pedagogical workshop The Home Front during the Great Patriotic War. Historical education of the younger generation.

On 30 April the conference participants will have a meeting with Kuzbass writers in the literary lounge War-scarred lines.

A collection of materials will be published as a result of the conference.