February 05–11, 1944. 30 weeks before Liberation

A new project of the National Library of Belarus is dedicated to the Great Patriotic War – "Reading newspaper lines with your heart. On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders."
Every week from January to August 2024, the portal of the National Library publishes materials from newspapers of Soviet Belarus in 1944, reflecting the chronicle of news and events of that time.

Our troops continued their successful offensive. The cities of Lutsk, Rivne, and Nikopol were liberated. The movement continued in the Narva direction – the eastern bank of the Narva River was completely cleared of the enemy.

The Sovinformburo in operational reports notified about the destroyed German equipment. So, in the summary for February 5, it was reported that during February 4, our troops on all fronts knocked out and destroyed 109 German tanks. 46 enemy aircraft were destroyed in air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire.

The partisan detachments continued to inflict great damage to the enemy's manpower and equipment. In just five days of January, from 20 to 24, the partisans derailed 42 enemy military echelons, as a result, 29 steam locomotives, 245 wagons, platforms and tanks were smashed (Savetskaya Belarus, No. 15).

Important material is posted on the front page of the Savetskaya Belarus newspaper (No. 15) – V.N. Molotov's report to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the transformation of the People's Commissariat of Defense and the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs from All-Union to Union-republican". In particular, the transformation of the People's Commissariat of Defense included the creation of military formations in the Union republics.

The tradition of creating national military formations was laid earlier, continued during the Civil War and in the USSR, abolished in 1938 (Alymkulov, N. A. The Creation of the USSR ...). Military formations based on nationality began to be formed again at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Due to the increased importance of these formations during the fighting, on February 1, 1944, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a law according to which each Union republic could have its own military formations, fully forming them and providing at the expense of its resources. In total, there were 66 of them in the Red Army in 11 union and 4 autonomous republics. (Alymkulov, N. A. The creation of the USSR...).
In connection with the transformation of the All-Union People's Commissariat on March 24, 1944, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Byelorussian SSR was established, in 1946 it was transformed into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2024, the diplomatic service of Belarus celebrates its 105th anniversary (The formation of a modern...).

The response to V. M. Molotov's report – the speech of deputy P.K. Ponomarenko (BSSR) at the X session of the Supreme Council of the first convocation with full support for the transformation – was published in the newspapers Savetskaya Belarus (No. 18, pp. 2-3) and Vitsebsky Rabochy (No. 12, pp. 1-2).

Panteleimon Kondratievich Ponomarenko (1902–1984) – Soviet party and statesman; first secretary of the Central Committee of the CP (b) of Belarus (1938–1947) and head of the government of the BSSR (1944–1948); led the partisan movement in Belarus, serving as Chief of the Central Staff of the partisan movement (1942–1944). Later he held high positions in the central office of the USSR, was ambassador to several countries.

The anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was marked by another event: on February 2, 1944 in Moscow, Marshal of the Soviet Union M. Budyonny presented the delegation from Stalingrad an honorary sword from King George VI of Great Britain (Savetskaya Belarus, No. 15, p. 3).

On behalf of the British people, King George VI of Great Britain (1895-1952) donated the sword to the Stalingraders "as a sign of deep admiration for the stubborn resistance of the city" (The sword was a gift from King George VI of Great Britain). The Sword of Honor was awarded in November 1943 during the opening of the conference in Tehran by W. Churchill and To Stalin in the presence of the President of the United States F. Roosevelt. The rarity is kept in Volgograd, in the fund of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve "Battle of Stalingrad".

The sword is a gift from King George VI of Great Britain. 1943. The site of the State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve "Battle of Stalingrad"

Correspondents sent numerous materials from the liberated towns and villages of Belarus.

The tragic pages were not hidden – the death of villagers at the hands of the occupiers (Savetskaya Belarus, No. 16, p. 2; 19, p. 4). The share of the heroes of the material in the newspaper Stalinets (No. 9) was happier: residents of two villages left in time with their pets in the forest before the arrival of the punishers, and thus they were saved.

The article "In the liberated Mozyr" in the newspaper Savetskaya Belarus (No. 15, p. 4) is devoted to one of the primary tasks of returning to peaceful life – the restoration of the retail network. The rapid successful offensive of the Red Army did not allow the Germans to completely destroy Mozyr, many shops, canteens, etc. survived; also, the necessary goods will soon arrive in the city.

Factories and artels for the production of consumer goods are gradually starting to work in the Mogilev region, 6 watermills, a sawmill, a brick factory, workshops for sewing clothes and shoes have begun to work, the production of sledges, wheels, nails, pottery and much more is growing (Savetskaya Belarus, No. 19).

In the liberated areas there is a full preparations for spring work were underway.  "Savetskaya Belarus" (No. 16). Equipment from the Ryazan region was in a hurry to help the Belarusian collective farmers (Za Radzimy, No. 28):

The sphere of culture was revived, cultural houses and libraries were opened, the book fund was recreated with help from the Book Fund of the RSFSR (Savetskaya Belarus, No. 17).

The emotions of joy with their fervent songs and dances were presented to Gomel residents by the Ensemble of Army Song and Dance of the Belarusian Front – folk songs and works by Soviet composers were played (Savetskaya Belarus, No. 19, p. 4):

The Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Armed Forces was officially founded on January 9, 1939. During the war, the Ensemble performed in hospitals, on the front line, in the rear and in newly liberated cities. The team met the victory on May 9, 1945 in Konigsberg. After the war, the ensemble continued its creative activity. In 2019, this Honored Collective of the Republic of Belarus celebrated its 80th anniversary.

During these winter days, an exhibition of works by Belarusian artists and sculptors opened in Moscow, at the Tretyakov Gallery, it featured more than 250 works, most of which were devoted to the theme of the Great Patriotic War (Savetskaya Belarus, No. 15, p. 3; Izvestia, No. 29, p. 4.).

Art also took an active part in the Holy War of the Belarusian and the entire Soviet people.

And there were 29 weeks left before the liberation…

The material was prepared by L. G. Tupchienko-Kadyrova,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, chief bibliographer
of the information and analytical department.

Источники/Sources

Газеты/Newspapers*

Full issues of newspapers are available at the links.

1. Віцебскі рабочы : орган Віцебскага Абласнога і Гарадскога Камітэтаў КП(б)Б, Абласнога і Гарадскога Саветаў Дэпутатаў Працоўных, 1944, № 10.
2. Віцебскі рабочы, 1944, № 11.
3. Віцебскі рабочы, 1944, № 12.
4. За Радзіму : орган Магілёўскага абласнога і гарадскога КП Беларусі і абласнога і гарадскога Савета дэпутатаў працоўных, 1944, № 26.
5. За Радзіму, 1944, № 27.
6. За Радзіму, 1944, № 28.
7. Известия : орган Советов депутатов трудящихся СССР, 1944, № 29. – Рэжым доступу: https://dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/24888058/page-1?view=clean-text. – Дата доступу 22.01.2024.
8. Савецкая Беларусь : орган ЦК КП(б) Беларусі, Саўнаркома і Прэзідыума Вярхоўнага Савета БССР, 1944, № 15.
9. Савецкая Беларусь, 1944, № 16.
10. Савецкая Беларусь, 1944, № 17.
11. Савецкая Беларусь, 1944, № 18.
12. Савецкая Беларусь, 1944, № 19.
13. Сталінец : орган Грэскага райкома КП Беларусі і раённага Савета дэпутатаў працоўных, 1944, № 8.
14. Сталінец, 1944, № 9.

*The titles of the newspapers are given in accordance with modern spelling.

Книги, источники/Books, resources

1. Алымкулов, Н. А. Создание СССР и формирование национальных воинских соединений в вооруженных силах страны (1919–1945 гг.) [Электронный ресурс] / Н. А. Алымкулов // Материалы научной конференции «Ноябрьские историко-архивные чтения – 2021 г.» / Пермский государственный архив социально-политической истории. – Режим доступа: https://www.permgaspi.ru/deyatelnost/november-readings/noyabrskie-istoriko-arhivnye-chteniya-v-perms.... – Дата доступа 24.01.2024.
2. Меч – подарок короля Великобритании Георга VI // Раритеты военно-исторических музеев Беларуси и России : [альбом : 75-летию Победы в Великой Отечественной войне посвящается / авторы текста: А. Вавра и др. ; ред. совет: О. В. Ванина (гл. ред.) и др. ; фото: И. Руденко и др.]. – Минск ; Москва : Белорус. Энцикл., 2020. – С. 132–133.
3. Становление современной белорусской дипслужбы [Электронный ресурс] // Министерство иностранных дел Республики Беларусь. – Режим доступа: https://mfa.gov.by/ministry/history/. – Дата доступа 24.01.2024.
4. 1418 дней Великой Отечественной войны : хронология событий : хронология событий : [солдату Великой Отечественной посвящается / сост. Е. В. Малашевич ; науч. ред.: Е. И. Барановский, Г. И. Баркун ; фото: В. В. Харченко]. – Минск : Мастац. літ., 2014. – 421, [1] с.