On the eve of Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, Penza schoolchildren learned about beginnig of Patriotic War

For the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, the specialists of the Regional Center of the Presidential Library, based at the Lermontov Penza Regional Library, organized an educational event called "That First Day of War". The event was attended by students from Gymnasium No. 13.

During the event, the children learned about the events that took place on June 22, 1941, one of the most tragic days in our history when the Great Patriotic War started. On that day, Nazi Germany and its allies attacked our country with an unprecedented force - 190 divisions, over 4,000 tanks, 47,000 guns and mortars, approximately 4,500 aircraft, up to 200 ships - a total of more than 5 million soldiers.

The participants of the meeting paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Great Patriotic War with a moment of silence. Students watched newsreel footage from before that terrible day in June 1941, showing people working in the fields and children playing in parks. They also listened to a radio broadcast from Vyacheslav Molotov, deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, who addressed the population with a message that is available on the Presidential Library's portal. The message included these lines: "At 4 a.m. this morning, without any prior claims against the Soviet Union or declaration of war, German forces attacked our country in multiple locations and bombed our cities from the air..."

During the event, schoolchildren took part in a military-patriotic game. They had to answer questions about the key events of the Great Patriotic War, the military weapons of that time and military ranks. The participants also had to demonstrate their drill skills and strength. One of the tasks was related to searching for information in the Presidential Library's collection.

Children were also shown issues of the "Murzilka" magazine, which was published during the war years and is now available on the Presidential Library's portal. It was noted that even during such difficult times, books and magazines for children were still being published in the country.

Finally, the students watched a video called "Victory Day" which showed news footage from May 9, 1945.

The collection Memory of the Great Victory is now available on the Presidential Library's portal. This collection includes official documents, photos and news reels, wartime newspapers, books, and testimonies from participants in combat and home front work.

Based on the materials of https://www.liblermont.ru/ portal