Palace of Republic to host series of requiem concerts to commemorate WW2 victims, heroes

“This project begins a series of the main events timed to the 80th anniversary of the Soviet nation’s Great Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The requiem concert Every Third carries the main message: it is important to remember everyone, who died during the war and who helped secure the Victory,” said Yekaterina Usova, Head of the Central Office for State Special Cultural Events and Professional Art of the Belarusian Culture Ministry.

The events that will take place closer to 9 May will have more festive notes, the official remarked. The Every Third project that will be seen by a total of over 15,000 people from all regions of the country will allow tracking the road that the Belarusian nation travelled along during the Great Patriotic War.

The requiem concert Every Third is a tribute to the memory of all the victims and heroes of the Great Patriotic War. It tells the story of destinies of ordinary people by combining new songs about the war and the victory with unique historical footage and historical facts.

The first part of the concert presents data about Belarus’ populated localities that have been lost forever, about Heroes of the Soviet Union, who were born or who died in Belarus’ territory. It touches upon the topic of the genocide of the civilian population. Maps of destroyed villages and concentration camps on display have been corrected thanks to new data. Rare films, photo documents related to various periods during the war and after the war have been prepared and will be demonstrated. The second part of the concept is designed to focus on how contemporary people bear the burden of responsibility for preserving the historical memory and traditions.

The concert will feature renowned musical masterpieces of the Soviet period as well as new works by modern Belarusian authors: Valery Shmat, Anna Seluk, Yevgeny Oleinik, Anna Blagova, and other ones. The concert is based on the piece of poetry Requiem for Every Fourth written by Anatoly Vertinsky.

A number of exhibition projects have been organized in the lobby of the Palace of the Republic to complement the requiem concert. Delegations from the regions and from the city of Minsk will be treated to the photo exhibition Destinies Folded into Triangle. It is a joint patriotic project organized by BelTA and the Belarusian State Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War. It is based on the letters sent by soldiers during the war. It was a custom to fold the letters into the shape of triangles during the war.The exhibition “Heroic feats and destinies of partisans in documents” is based on materials of the unique Internet project Belarus Partisans (partizany.by) by the publishing house Belarus Segodnya and the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus. In 2022 the project won the Belarus president’s special prize for culture and art luminaries in recognition of the significant work to shape the public perception, popularize the history of the partisan movement and the underground resistance movement of Belarus.

The National Library of Belarus has organized an exhibition of genocide documents and witness testimonies. The items on display are scientific, popular science, and popular politics publications of the last few years, including a series of new researches of Belarusian scientists and reporters into less known facts of the genocide and war crimes against the civilian population. Some of the publications are based on the criminal case opened by Belarus’ Prosecutor General’s Office into the genocide of the Belarusian people in April 2021.

KUP Minskhlebprom, one of Minsk’s largest producers of bread, bakery and confectionery products, has prepared an exhibition to highlight the contribution of bread to the Victory. The editorial and publishing institution Kultura i Mastatstva has prepared a project designed to offer a glimpse into the past by leveraging augmented reality and pictures from reserves of the Belarusian State Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War.

Speaking about the pictures on display, Yekaterina Usova remarked that these graphic works by Belarusian artists properly complement the atmosphere in the Palace of the Republic during the requiem concert, which viewings will be organized from 6 April through 12 April. The Vitebsk Oblast delegation will see the requiem concert Every Third tomorrow, on 7 April.