"May the bonds of centuries never be broken ..."
Archaeological and Ethnographic Monuments of Smorgon District
Археолага-этнаграфічныя помнікі Смаргоншчыны
Мілы край мой,
Смаргоншчына-маці!
Дзе высокія сосны бароў,
Дзе ляжаць дываны-сенажаці
І бясконцае мора палёў.
Дзе харошыя, слаўныя людзі
Сустракаюць з усмешкай цябе,
Ты заходзь і гасцём у іх будзеш,
Будуць рады заўсёды табе.
Артур Цяжкі
Smorgon District is the land of our ancestors, which has ancient rich and diverse history. Courageous and talented people who glorified our land far beyond its borders live here. In Smorgon District there are 33 objects that are included on the State list of historical and cultural heritage of our republic. The exposition of our museum contains a number of finds of the Mesolithic era: the remains of the bones of extinct animals, including part of the mammoth tooth, products from the horn, silicon products, ceramics. All these exhibits were found on the territory of our district.
Smorgon lands in the XIII-XVIII centuries.
The most ancient settlement in our district is Krevo, which is mentioned in German chronicles of the 13th century as the capital of the historical region of Nalshani. The ruins of Krevo Castle, which was built during the reign of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gedimin and his son Olgerd to protect the borders of the principality from the crusaders, keep many secrets of history. The exposition contains objects found during excavations of the Krevsky ancient settlement dating back to the times of Nalshani.
Smorgon and its owners
The first mentioning of Smorgon dates back to 1503. Since 1628 the place was part of the Radziwills possessions. The Radziwills founded here the Bear Training School, which went down in history as the Bear Academy.
Smorgon District - the arena of hostilities
In the 17-18 centuries Smorgon land was the arena of hostilities for a long time.
The great powers of that time were at war: the Russian Empire, Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Smorgon was visited by the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and the Polish King Stanislav Leshchinsky, and the King of Sweden Charles XII. The uprising of 1794 under the leadership of Tadeusz Kosciuszko is also our history. Its participant was the famous composer and statesman Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky
Smorgon lands as part of the Russian Empire
Our town Smorgon is known even in faraway France, where it is called the town of shame and disgrace of Emperor Napoleon. It was in Smorgon in December 1812 that he left his army, fleeing from the Russian army under the command of Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. Most of the population of Smorgon District was engaged in agriculture. The situation of the peasants was difficult: they performed various duties, paid taxes. This caused discontent, which often resulted in peasant unrest. The active participants in the peasant uprising led by Kastus Kalinovsky were Julian Bokshansky, Frantishak Bogushevich.
Smorgon at the beginning of the XX century
In 1904, Smorgon got the status of a town. It was the largest industrial center in the west of the Russian Empire, enterprises for processing local raw materials prevailed here.
In the flame of World War
The First World War came to the Belarusian land in the autumn of 1915 , and the region was divided by the frontier border for the long 3 years. There was a fierce confrontation between the warring armies. Smorgon was the only town on the Eastern Front from the Baltic to the Black Sea that the Russian army heroically defended throughout the war. Then a saying appeared: “The one who did not fight at Smorgon did not see real war."
Smorgon District in the 20-40s of the XX century
Peaceful time was short for the residents of Smorgon District. It was very complicated: the historical exposition calendar shows this. Many documents are in Polish, because our lands were part of Poland until 1939. There are also documents of the “enemies of the people” who were convicted during the period of Stalin repressions. Those people have been justified nowadays.
The Great Patriotic War
On June 22, 1941 the Great Patriotic War began. Four days later, German troops approached Smorgon. The museum has a lot of material on the occupation regime in Smorgon district, interesting valuable documents tell about the underground and partisan movement. They were given to the museum by the former commanders of the partisan detachments Mikhail Petrovich Orekhov and Nikolai Nikolayevich Mikhaylyuk, and the former commissar of the Suvorov brigade Vasily Vladimirovich Dan. Our town was liberated only in 1944.
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Smorgon District in the 40-80s of the XX century
Our district was gradually recovering after the war. The town was rebuilt, people worked hard and life was gradually improving. The museum team held meetings with the best workers, craftsmen of that time, recorded their memories, collected very interesting photographs, things, documents.
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Мы сустракаліся з перадавікамі працы, народнымі ўмельцамі таго часу, запісалі іх успаміны, сабралі вельмі цікавыя фотаздымкі, рэчы, дакументы.
Smorgon develops and thrives
Our town is growing and becoming more and more beautiful. Today Smorgon has its own emblem, flag and anthem. Representatives of many nationalities and various religious denominations are united by common concerns and plans. Our future depends on us and we are trying to make it happy.
They glorified our land with their talent
The exposition “Our land was glorified with their talent” is a portrait gallery of our famous compatriots: poets and writers, musicians and composers, artists and sculptors. Most exhibits are gifts from outstanding people and their families.
Afghanistan hurts in my soul
In our museum there is information about another war. This is the Afghan war, its Memorial Day is February 15th. On this day, every year we pay tribute to the courage of the participants of those events. It is in the memory of our contemporaries; the parents and grandparents of our students were its participants.
So it all began
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Святкуе сёння кожны клас,
Увесь школьны люд вясёлы.
I ўсклікае кожны з нас:
“3 днём нараджэння, школа!”
Тут можна веды набываць,
Сталеем, разумнеем
I “дзякуй” хочацца сказаць,
За ўсё, што мы ўмеем!
Табе, настаўнік наш, паклон!
Мы кажам шчыра, гучна:
“На многа год, на безліч дзён –
Здароўя, добрых вучняў!”
А школе слова мы даём,
Што ні ў якім разе
Мы імя добрае тваё
У жыцці не абразім.
The history of Smorgon Gymnasium began on August 1, 1979. It was School №4 at that time . The first principal of the school was Boris Mikhailovich Khinevich. Thanks to the energy and determination of Boris Mikhailovich Khinevich and the team of teachers united by one idea, the school gradually turned into an institution of a new type - a gymnasium, the first in Smorgon region. 2757 students graduated from our Gymnasium. There were 315 gold medalists and 216 silver medalists among them.
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Ethnographic peculiarities of Smorgon District
Ўжо хата новая гатова,
Прыбраны трэскі ўжо і дровы;
Над белым дахам, як карова,
Красуе комінак чырвоны;
Прыветна вокны пазіраюць,
Бы вас у госці запрашаюць,_
Ну, добры выгляд хата мае,
Яна і цешыць, здавальняе.
Я.Колас. Новая зямля
A valuable source for studying of our heritage is the numerous ethnographic exhibits displayed in our ethnographic corner. They provide an excellent opportunity to learn about the rich history of Smorgon District. Craftsmen of 24 specialties have lived and worked in Smorgon. Their products and tools are exhibited. The most common occupations were: tanning (leather processing), blacksmithing, pottery, furniture, shoes and clothes making. Men mainly made tools and household items, women tried to decorate the house and make it cozy. They wove blankets and rugs, embroidered various towels, pillows, paintings.