World War II in archival documents (collection of digitized archival documents, film and photo materials)

On September 4, 2025,  the Сollection of digitized archival documents, film and photo materials World War II in Archival Documents, posted on the Presidential Library portal was replenished with 250 new documents from federal and departmental archives of Russia, which cover the events of the period from June 25 1945.

The majority of the documents presented reflect the preparation and course of the large-scale offensive of the Red Army in Manchuria on 9 August 1945, the complete defeat of the Kwantung Army, and the signing of Japan's Act of Surrender on 2 September 1945.

The following documents are presented from the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation: directives of the Supreme Command Headquarters on the conduct of the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (including the original order of the Headquarters dated 30 July 1945 on the appointment of Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky as Commander-in-Chief of Soviet troops in the Far East); reports, combat reports, summaries, reports, maps, diagrams and logs of combat operations of the Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, as well as the Pacific Fleet and its Petropavlovsk naval base (including documents on the South Sakhalin offensive operation and the Kuril landing operation).

The Collection includes the Act of Surrender of Japan, signed on board the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay by representatives of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, France, China, as well as Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The Collection includes photographs from the collections of the Russian State Archive of Film, Photo and Audio Documents, capturing the signing of the Japanese surrender document that marked the end of World War II.

The Collection also includes orders from Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin Nos. 372 and 373 with greetings to the troops of the Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts and the Pacific Fleet, which occupied all of Manchuria, South Sakhalin and the islands of Shumshu and Paramushir from the Kuril Islands group (23 August 1945), and greeting the troops of the Red Army and Navy on the occasion of the victory over Japan (3 September 1945) – from the Russian State Military Archive (RGVA).

A significant part of the materials added to the Collection are documents on the interaction between the USSR and its allies in the anti-Hitler coalition in the summer of 1945 (mainly on the issue of the Soviet Union's entry into the war against Japan), as well as documents on the Potsdam (Berlin) Conference of the three great powers – the USSR, the USA and Great Britain (held between 17 July and 25 July 1945). Among the most important documents is a letter from US Secretary of State J. Byrnes to USSR People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov with the text of the Declaration of the Heads of Government of the United States, the United Kingdom and China (the so-called Potsdam Declaration) demanding the unconditional surrender of Japan (26 July 1945); the minutes of the Potsdam Conference (1 August 1945); a recording of a conversation between V. M. Molotov and the Japanese ambassador to the USSR, N. Sato, in connection with the Soviet government's statement on the USSR's accession to the Potsdam Declaration and the declaration of war on Japan (8 August 1945); records of conversations between V. M. Molotov and British Ambassador to the USSR A. C. Kerr, US Ambassador to the USSR W. A. Harriman, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang and Chinese Ambassador to the USSR Fu Bingchang on issues related to the war with Japan (8–15 August 1945).

Documents from Soviet intelligence agencies stored in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Archive are presented in the form of intelligence reports (coded telegrams) sent by Soviet intelligence officers in Washington and London: on the coordination of British and American positions on the post-war structure of Europe; the views of the British and American leadership on Japan's future place in world politics and economics after its surrender, etc. There are also a number of reports from the People's Commissar for State Security of the USSR, V. N. Merkulov, addressed to J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov and L. P. Beria, including the contents of a telegram from the British Foreign Office to the British ambassadors to the US and the USSR on issues to be discussed at the meeting of the leaders of the three great powers in Potsdam (5 July 1945); the contents of telegraphic correspondence between the British Foreign Office and British Ambassador to the United States E. Halifax in connection with the Potsdam Conference (18 July 1945); the contents of a memorandum from the French Foreign Office on French policy towards Germany (22 August 1945).

The Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of Russia has released a number of reports from V. S. Abakumov, head of the Main Counterintelligence Directorate "SMERSH" of the USSR People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, to the USSR State Defence Committee and the USSR People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs on the fight against Home Army gangs (14 July 1945); on the intensification of Japanese intelligence activities (31 July 1945); on the work of SMERSH agencies in the Far East (11 August 1945); on the arrest of Japanese intelligence officers and agents (16, 20, 24 August 1945).

The collection includes decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GA RF), including "On awarding the Order of Victory to Marshal of the Soviet Union Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin" and "On awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin" (26 June 1945); "On awarding the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the USSR, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the highest military rank – Generalissimo of the Soviet Union" (27 June 1945); "On holidays for workers and employees" (30 June 1945); "On measures to ensure compliance with the Law 'On the demobilisation of older personnel of the Active Army'" (5 July 1945); "On amnesty in connection with the victory over Hitler's Germany" (7 July 1945); "On the preservation of tax benefits for those demobilised from the Red Army and their families" (1 August 1945); "On the ratification of the Charter of the United Nations" (20 August 1945); "On declaring 3 September a holiday celebrating victory over Japan" (2 September 1945).

Thus, with the inclusion of new archival documents from the period 25 June to 3 September 1945, the formation of chronological sections of the Collection of archival documents, film and photographic materials dedicated to the World War II has been completed. The total number of documents in the Collection today exceeds 17,300, including maps, diagrams, periodicals, photographs, and newsreel footage from January 1933 to September 1945.

!!! Please note that the materials presented in the project contain shocking details and descriptions of atrocities and abuse of civilians; The photograph shows mass graves and the exhumation of remains. In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, these visual materials are prohibited for viewing by children under 16 years of age, as well as by persons suffering from nervous and mental illnesses.

Archival documents of the Collection World War II in Archival Documents are available from anywhere in the world thanks to the Presidential Library’s portal. Especially for the foreign audience, the titles and annotations to the documents as well as the texts of the accompanying articles are also available in English.

In addition to digitized archival documents the Collection contains a list of the main Internet projects, databases, other thematic online documents, virtual tours of the history of World War II, developed by government agencies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and various organizations.

Executive institution: Federal Archival Agency (Rosarkhiv)

Operator: Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library of the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation

Participants:

Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation (AVP RF)

Russian State Military Archives (RGVA)

Russian State Archive of the Navy (RGAVMF)

Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI)

State Archives of the Russian Federation (GA RF)

Russian State Archives of Contemporary History (RGANI)

Russian State Archives of Film and Photo Documents (RGAKFD)

Russian State Archives of Economy (RGAE)

Russian State Archives in Samara (RGA in Samara)

Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (CA MO RF)

Foreign Intelligence Service Archives of the Russian Federation (Archive of SVR)

Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (CA FSB)

German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv)

National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (NARB)

Belarusian State Archives of Film and Photo Documents (BGAKFFD)

Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art (BGAMLI)