History of Russia: Exhibition marking the centenary of the end of the Civil War in South Russia the Russian Exodus from Crimea presented in Moscow

The exhibition "What I Have to Say...", devoted to the centenary of the end of the Civil War in South Russia and the Russian Exodus from Crimea will run until December 20, 2020, at the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia (Moscow).

The events of 1920 in the Crimea concluded the long Russian Civil War (1918-1922). As a result, many thousands of Russian compatriots had to leave their Motherland and emigrate. This event entered Russian history as the Russian Exodus.

The exhibition features unique documents and artefacts from the collections of the leading federal museums, archives, and private collections. The graphic materials highlight the tragedy of the fratricidal war and the divisions in society.

The exposition focuses on two personalities - the artist Alexander Vertinsky (1889-1957) and General Yakov Slashchov (1885-1929). It tells about the events of a tragic confrontation that happened a century ago by the example of these two outstanding people; about their friendship, forced emigration and return to Motherland.

The exposition showcases personal belongings of Alexander Vertinsky and books written by General Yakov Slashchov (with short commentaries by Vladimir Lenin); paintings of artists who worked in the 1920s, in the Crimea, and contemporary artists, reflecting the Crimean events of the Civil War.

The most valuable exhibits include the St. Andrew's flag, which followed the Russian squadron abandoning the Crimea for a foreign land. Now it is kept in the Kazan Cathedral of Saint-Petersburg. There is also the banner - a gift to the Soviet sailors from the communist sailors of the steamer "Reshid Pasha", which transported soldiers of the White Russian army returning from Gallipoli and Lemnos in 1921.

The exhibition features fragments from the films "Two Comrades Were Serving" (directed by E. Karelov), "The Flight" (directed by A. Alov, V. Naumov), "Sunstroke" (directed by N. Mikhalkov), which spotlight the tragic events of Russian history at the beginning of the XX century.