As part of the project, volunteers in regions of Russia and other countries of the world visit veterans, record their memories and collect family documents kept by eyewitnesses of the blockade. In addition, anyone who wishes, through the project's volunteers, can also send documents: photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, video memoirs and other family documents. From the collected materials, the activists form a unique electronic archive dedicated to the besieged city, its inhabitants and liberators.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Siege of Leningrad, the Movement has opened an exhibition of the project, which operates on the territory of the Museum-Reserve "Breaking the Siege of Leningrad" in the Leningrad Region. The exhibition is a reminder of the immortal heroism of ordinary people who defended their families and their hometown. Visitors will be able to get acquainted with the history of the besieged Leningrad. On special stands there are photographs of eyewitnesses of those terrible events and QR codes, when hovering over which video memories of residents and veterans of the blockade are opened.
The opening of the exhibition was attended by 101-year-old veteran of the Great Patriotic War, defender of Leningrad Mirkin Abram Izrailevich from the Oryol Region, Governor of the Leningrad Region Alexander Yuryevich Drozdenko, Head of the Victory Volunteers Movement Olga Nikolaevna Amelchenkova and representatives of the international team of Victory Volunteers from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, who brought with them family archival photographs, documents and memoirs of veterans to replenish the archive.
“Today our archive contains more than 5000 materials. 77 regions of Russia and 10 countries of the near and far abroad have joined the project. On the one hand, we together preserve the memory of the blockade, and on the other, we take care of the future. After all, the archive will help someone restore the history of his family. Such “living” documents and video memories are difficult to find in state archives, they are kept in families ”, - said Olga Amelchenkova, head of the Victory Volunteers.
Also on the day of the beginning of the blockade of Leningrad, Victory Volunteers visit the living eyewitnesses of the blockade. Volunteers meet with veterans to preserve their memories and record the winners' words on video, as well as show concern and attention. Thus, the activists of the Movement talked with Efimova Valentina Ivanovna.
When the blockade of Leningrad began, Valentina Ivanovna was 11 years old. Having gone through the most difficult period of the siege of the city together with her mother and sister, she went to rural work on the Black River, where she looked after the harvest for Leningrad for several months. At the age of 13 she received a medal "For the Defense of Leningrad".
“Today it is a great honor for us, the Volunteers of the Victory of the Kyrgyz Republic, to be on the territory of Leningrad. Especially - to visit the blockade Valentina Ivanovna. Chat with her. These are incredible emotions and impressions. We will preserve and preserve this history so that there is no falsification, ”- Dmitry Teklyuk, an activist of the Movement from Kyrgyzstan, shared his impressions of the meeting.
Also, the Victory Volunteers met with Romanenko Zoya Pavlovna. When the Great Patriotic War began, Zoya Pavlovna was 16 years old. She survived the worst blockade winter of 1941-1942. In 1942, she voluntarily went to study at the courses of the Red Cross and after distribution ended up in the military hospital AGLR 2584 in Lebyazhye. Until the end of the war, she treated the wounded and made bandages. Together with the hospital, she passed from Leningrad for the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army through Poland, Latvia and Germany. I met Victory Day in Berlin.
International project “Word of the Winner. The blockade "continues. Volunteers visit veterans and form an archive. Detailed information about the project and how to join the “Winner's Word. Blockade ", can be found on the website of the word winner.rf.