Virtual exhibition of the Presidential Library showcases the Great Patriotic War in the context of World War II

Marking Victory Day the Presidential Library provides the multimedia exhibition The Great Patriotic War which determined the outcome of World War II. Marking the 75th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.

In the spring of 1945 in Karlhorst, a suburb of Berlin, the Act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed. Thanks to unparalleled courage, at the cost of enormous efforts and sacrifices, the Soviet people and the army defeated the troops of Germany and its allies, liberated the countries of Central and Eastern Europe from occupation and took Berlin, the capital of the “thousand-year-old” Third Reich that existed for 12 years.

But it is impossible to understand the causes and course of the Great Patriotic War outside the context of World War II of which it was an integral part and main event.

The virtual exposition covers the period from 1931 to 1945. More than 500 official documents, photographs, maps, periodicals and leaflets introduce the real course of military-political and diplomatic events of those years and give the users the opportunity to form their own idea of ​​the causes, beginning and course of the Great Patriotic War in the context of the events of World War II.

The materials of the multimedia exhibition are arranged in chronological order and, according to documents, represent year after year the sequence of events that determined the prehistory, the beginning, the course and, finally, the end of World War II.

Each section of the exhibition is dedicated to key events of a particular period presented with documents and detailed annotations. A user-friendly interface makes it possible to examine each document in detail.

The uniqueness of the exhibition lies in the fact that its authors-compilers offer to look at the events of those years in a new way, namely, to see what was happening not as separate military conflicts and political events, but as a chain of interconnected historical realities. To learn for yourself the very lesson of history, knowledge and understanding of which will not allow a repetition of the terrible tragedy, which name is World War II. The exhibition gives the viewer the opportunity to think about the role of even minor dramatic events from an ordinary point of view which are essentially a link in the chain of a global world conflict.

Professionally selected and conveniently arranged materials make it possible to read each document, leaving no room for distortion of historical facts, interpretation of what happened at the angle of political conjuncture. The need for a true picture of the events of the Great Patriotic and World War II was reflected in the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The vote took place in our country in July 2020.

The unique documents provided by the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation, the Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of Russia, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library (USA), the Chongqing Library (PRC) have been used to create the exhibition. The materials from the collections of the Presidential Library and documents previously published in various Internet projects of the Russian Archives, the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence and the Russian Historical Society are also provided.

Virtual projects are an actively developing area of ​​activity of the Presidential Library thanks to which the electronic repository along with paper, photo, audio and video materials, is added with exhibits of exhibitions, items from museum collections.

Today more than thirty virtual tours and excursions are available for remote visits. They are available on Presidential Library’s portal in Exhibitions section at https://www.prlib.ru/about_exhibition.