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

On March 13, 2025 the collection of digitized archival documents, films and photographic materials World War II in Archival Documents on the Presidential Library's portal has been enriched with 100 documents, presentating events of Second World War from February 14 to March 13, 1945.

The documents from the collections of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation provide information about the East Pomeranian and Lower Silesian offensive operations as well as the Balaton defensive operation of the Red Army. They include operational directives, combat orders, cipher messages, and combat reports from the commands of the 1st, 2nd Belorussian, and 1st and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts. Additionally, there is a map-plan for the offensive actions of the 1st Belorussian Front's troops to defeat the Pomeranian enemy group, as well as maps of the positions of troops and the combat operations of units from the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts.

Among the documents of the Central Committee of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, there are orders No. 288 and 290 from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, J. V. Stalin, to the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, G. K. Zhukov, regarding the awarding of formations and units that distinguished themselves in battles in Western Pomerania and the battles for the capture of the cities of Stargard, Naugard, and Poltsin on the Stettin front (dated March 4 and 5, 1945).

The Collection includes photographs from the collections of the Russian State Military Archive and the Russian State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents. These photographs capture episodes of military operations on the territory of Poland, in the cities of Breslau and Poznan. The order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 284, which was posted from the Russian State Military Archive holdings, also welcomes the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front after they captured the city of Poznan and its fortress on February 23, 1945.

The documents of the Soviet intelligence services are represented by secret messages (cipher telegrams) received from Soviet agents in Washington. In addition, there are materials about attempts by German representatives to contact the representatives of the UK and the US in Ireland and Sweden. A translation of the report from the German mission in Stockholm to the German Foreign Ministry on the results and significance of the Crimea Conference is also included (these documents are kept in the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service in Russia).

The holdings of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History contain a memorandum from the Deputy Head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, I. V. Shikin, to the Head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks), G. F. Alexandrov, about the German prisoner of war camp in Thorn, Poland (February 19, 1945). Additionally, there are resolutions from the Poltava and Ternopil Regional Committees of the Communist Party of Ukraine regarding the fight against Ukrainian-German collaborators (February 24 and 28, 1945) and other related documents.

The Collection includes documents from the Russian State Archive of Modern History, including a note from N. G. Kuznetsov, the People's Commissar of the Navy of the Soviet Union, to I. V. Stalin requesting material resources to support the construction of the main naval base for the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on February 25, 1945, and a note from the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine, N. S. Khrushchev, to J. V. Stalin regarding the political and socio-economic situation in Poland and measures to assist the Polish government in rebuilding their cities on March 12, 1945.

Of interest are documents from the Archives of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation related to the preparation of the member states of the anti-Hitler coalition for the international conference in San Francisco (April 25 - June 26, 1945). These documents are supplemented by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated March 13, 1945, "On the Composition of the Soviet Delegation to the Conference in San Francisco", which is stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation.

The Collection also includes original manuscripts of poems by E. A. Poetov, which are kept in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. These include works by Dolmatovsky and S. P. Gudzenko, written in mid-February 1945, such as On the Street, Revenge, They Will Return to Our Homes..., and Buda.

Additionally, there are fragments of documentary footage about the battles fought by Soviet troops in East Prussia in January 1945 and the liberation of Budapest, the capital of Hungary, in February 1945. These materials are part of the collection of the Russian State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents.

!!! 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)