Exhibition timed to the Great Victory anniversary opened at the Presidential Library

The exhibition "We have won because we were united" dedicated to the role of the peoples of the Soviet Union in the Great Victory opened today at the Presidential Library. The opening ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko as well as by the heads of national parliaments, members of the Interparliamentary Assembly of States - members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Director General of the Presidential Library Alexander Vershinin, welcoming the audience in the informational multi-functional center, noted: "Today we are opening the exhibition and tomorrow it will attract students and all those to whom it is important to know and remember the history of our country. It is this exhibition that uncovers the axiomatic truth about the Victory, which today are sometimes lacking to the society."

The exhibition based on specific historical materials reveals the major milestones of the Great Patriotic War. Documents, photographs, newsreels reflect the heroism of Leningrad, the Battle of Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk. In special focus are: the Battle of Kiev, the liberation of Kiev and the entire Ukraine from the Nazis by the Red Army. Also on display there are the Battles of Minsk, Kishinev, Berlin offensive and Victory Parade in Moscow.

The exhibition is housed by two halls of the Presidential Library. The first one features copies of archival documents, newsreels, TASS photo chronicle, posters, books and albums. The exhibition also displays real armament and uniforms, personal belongings of the Red Army soldiers, medals and awards of the Great Patriotic War, book editions. Among the particularly rare materials are digital copies of cryptograms and reports of the leaders of the Soviet state, in particular, a directive of Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov to USSR ambassadors abroad about the beginning of war distributed June 22, 1941.

The second hall is dedicated to the participation in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet republics, which are now the CIS member states. There are eleven exhibition units, each of which is devoted to a single state. Among them: the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine.

Each unit makes available publications, propaganda materials (leaflets, posters, brochures) in national languages, literary works created during the war, materials about the museum complexes and historic sites related to the Great Patriotic War. There are also commemorative medals and coins, badges and awards, souvenirs, contemporary photographs taken by residents of the CIS member states.

The exhibition has been organized by the Presidential Library, the Interparliamentary Assembly of States - members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Russian National Library, the Russian Historical Society. The exhibition hall of the St. Petersburg Union of Artists has also contributed to the project.

The partners of the exhibition are: M. Gorky Scientific Library of the St. Petersburg State University, Center for the Study of Military History under the Institute of History, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg branch of the Interstate TV and Radio Company "Mir."

The exhibition runs until August 21, 2015. To visit the exhibition please pre-register by calling (812) 334-25-14 or send an email to: excursion@prlib.ru.