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.





![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
---|---|---|
![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
The witnesses of the first days of the Great Patriotic War in Smorgon District
The exhibition "The Great Patriotic War" ("Occupation regime" Section) contains exhibits which were given to the museum by Ms Kazlouskaya, a resident of the village of Dubatouka, Smorgon District.
Here, near the village of Dubatouka, a Soviet bomber plane "IL-4"was shot down on June 26, 1941. The members of the crew were A.Vagin, a pilot and Viktor Tabakov, a gunner. Viktor Tabakov was seriously injured; he was hid and rescued by the villagers.
The pilot managed to land the aircraft. The local people took the parts of the plane and the things they could find. A bucket, a ladder were used in the household.
After the War, local Smorgon historians managed to make contact with Viktor Tabakov, visited him in Moscow where he lived after the War.
Victor Tabakov was in Smorgon District several times and met with the villagers of Dubatouka.


A metal bucket from the Soviet IL-4 aircraft
(inventory no. 240).
The diameter of the bottom is 22 cm.
The bucket was given to the museum by Ms Kazlouskaya, a resident of the village of Dubatouka, Smorgon District, on 14 April 1998.

A metal ladder from the Soviet IL-4 aircraft (inventory no. 241).
The ladder consists of 7 steps; its height is 120 cm.
The ladder was given to the museum by Ms Kazlouskaya, a resident of the village of Dubatouka, Smorgon District, on 14 April 1998.


A part of the wing of the Soviet aircraft "IL-4"
(Inventory No. 243).
Size: 23 cm by 14 cm.
Given d to Smorgon local historians by V.F. Tabakov during the meeting in Moscow on July 9, 1976
Partisan Relics
The exposition “The Great Patriotic War” (section “Underground and partisan movement”) fully and vividly shows the most important events of the underground and partisan movement in the Smorgon district. Many exhibits were given to the museum by direct participants in partisan actions, members of their families. Here you can read them recalling the partisan struggle, get acquainted with the partisan publications, and see the insights of partisan life.
The gallery also contains research works on the topic, albums with photographs that were created by students of Smorgon Gymnasium at different times.

The Certificate issued to Mikhail Petrovich Orekhov on February 16, 1944 (Inventory No. 122).
The text is printed on white fabric, 12 cm by 7 cm.
The certificate is given to the museum by Mikhail Petrovich Orekhov on April 4, 1997.

The list of partisans of partisan detachment No. 2 of the Suvorov brigade who took the oath (Inventory No. 124).
Paper, size 17 cm by 21 cm. Given to the museum by Mikhail Petrovich Orekhov on May 5, 1997

The insignia (self-made) of partisans of the Suvorov brigade (Inventory No. 298).
The insignia have an image of a five-pointed star, which is located inside the letter “C”. Cut out of cardboard, covered with red fabric.
The insignia, together with autobiographic materials, were given to the museum by M.P. Orekhov on October 19, 1998.




Partisan editions: satirical leaflet, newspaper-poster (Inventory No. 129) “Kill the fascist vermin” (May 1944), satirical leaflet No. 4-5 “Partisan Cudgel” (June 7, 1942) – (Inventory No. 90).
The satirical leaflet is printed on grey wallpaper.
On January 15, 1997 the editions were given to the museum by Taisia Konstantinovna Musskaya , a daughter of Konstantin Petrovich Mussky, in whose house in the village of Yagodnoye, partisans of the Suvorov brigade stayed.

A metal cigarette lighter (Inventory No. 208) and a wooden pipe (Inventory No. 334) which belonged to Nikolay Nikolaevich Mikhaylyuk, the commander of the partisan detachment named after Frunze, which was part of Budyonny brigade.
Given to the museum by N.N.Mikhaylyuk on November 1, 1998.


Paletka (a special bag for maps) belonged to Nikolay Nikolaevich Mikhaylyuk, the commander of the partisan detachment named after Frunze, which was part of Budyonny brigade. (Inventory No.1313)
The paletka is made of leather, has two pockets; two loops for leather strips, with the help of which it was worn on the shoulder strap. It is fastened with metal buttons.
Given to the museum by V.N.Mikhaylyuk, a son of the commander.

A metal spoon (Inventory No. 1282), length 16 cm; found near the village of Malinovaya ,Smorgon district.
Given to the museum by Alexandr Gvozdov, a graduate of Smorgon Gymnasium, on January 10, 2011.
A metal spoon (Inventory No. 330); length 21 cm; the handle is in the shape of a fish.



Propaganda leaflets with the appeal of the headquarters of the partisan movement to the people of Vileika Region (Inventory No. 121)
Given to the museum by M.P. Orekhov, a former partisan unit commander of the Suvorov brigade on April 4, 1997.

The uniform jacket of V.I. Danov, a commander of the 2nd partisan brigade named after Suvorov (Inventory No. 219).
Given to the museum by the family of V.I. Danov on April 4, 1998.

The letter of N.P. Tsvirko, the Head of the special department of the partisan brigade named after Suvorov, written to his family on December 24, 1943 (Inventory No. 91).
Given to the museum by R.S. Brovko, a teacher of Ukropenka Primary School, on January 15, 1997.
Letters from the front
During the Great Patriotic War the soldiers were waiting for news from the family, and their relatives almost daily asked the postmen if there was news for them.
At the beginning of the war, difficulties arose in providing the population and the army with envelopes, and soldiers invented famous soldier’s triangles, or letters without envelopes. The folded letter was easy to read by military censorship, but the main censors were the soldiers themselves, who did not want to talk about front-line difficulties and hardships. Another type of soldier’s letter was the “secret”. It was a sheet of postal paper without a stamp where the text was written, then the sheet was folded and glued along the edge. The "secrets" were illustrated. There were also illustrated postcards: propaganda, congratulatory, photo-documentary, letters of gratitude.
The military field mail was created on July 1, 1941, and during the Great Patriotic War it delivered about 6 billion copies of correspondence. In March 1943, a single lifelong numbering of all military units was introduced, and since April 1, 1943, a five-digit military addressing system was also used in the post-war period.
In our museum you can see and read letters given by the families of the participants of the war.



Letters from Germany by Ivan Sakovich to his family written on February 6, 1945 and on February 18, 1945 (Inventory No 79).
The letter of February 6, 1945 is written on a sheet of paper from a clerical book published in Berlin, what is known from the German inscriptions on this sheet.
The letters were given to the museum on January 8, 1997 by the family members.


Part of the letter by Arseniy Matveevich Mikheev to the family (Inventory No.92).
The letter was given to the museum on January 15, 1997 by the family members.


The letter “secret” of Zalessky Boris Gavrilovich to his wife Pelageya Vasilievna dated November 22, 1944 (Inventory No. 1287).
Dimensions: 14.5 cm by 10 cm. The paper is yellow.
Given to the museum by Artyom Nevero, a grandson of P.V. Zalesskaya on February 3, 2011.


Letter by Nikolai Tsivirko written on July 8, 1941 to the family (Inventory No. 91 (1)).
The letter is written on two notebook sheets. It is clear from the content that the author was on the territory of Belarus, in the region of Polotsk at that time; the letter mentions the repulse of the “Germans” attack.
The letter was sent to the museum by Evdokia Savelyevna, the mother of Nikolai Tsivirko, on January 15, 1997.
Soldier documents
“It has long been known how deceiving and imperfect human memory is, mercilessly eroded by time bit by bit, taking into oblivion at first the secondary, less significant and bright, and then the significant. History and historical experience of people are very quickly erased from memory by a string of current affairs and events and forever lost from the spiritual treasury of the people if not recorded in documents, not comprehended by art.”
Vasil Bykov, a Belarus prose writer and playwright, 1985
One cannot but agree with the famous Belarusian writer. Rare documents are of particular value to history, and in museums they are unique exhibits. Reading the yellowed pages of the Red Army military identity cards , certificates of participation in the battles, examining the Komsomol membership cards and military service record books, we experience the events of the war years together with their owners.
You can get acquainted with such exhibits in the museum of the Gymnasium.


