DUSHANBE, 19.06.2020. (NIAT Khovar) – For the people of the CIS countries, the memory of the Great Patriotic War is truly sacred, First Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary Viktor Guminsky said at an opening ceremony of the Our Common Victory exhibition at the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War in Minsk.

The exhibition is dedicated to the contribution of the CIS countries in the defeat of the fascist German troops and the liberation of Europe.

“For the peoples of the CIS, the memory of the victory in the war against fascism is truly sacred. From the first days of the war, people of different nations and nationalities rallied in the fight against fascism. Everyone had one goal, — to stop the enemy. The courage and resilience of our people became the main force that crushed Nazism which brought death and enslavement to mankind,” said Viktor Guminsky.

He expressed confidence that the exhibition will not only remind people of the heroic past of the post-Soviet countries but will also serve to disseminate objective information about the Great Patriotic War, and preserve the historical heritage associated with it.

“It is a worthy, truthful response to attempts to devalue the role of our people in the common victory and to falsify the results of the past war,” he said.

Viktor Guminsky noted that 2020 was declared in the Year of the 75th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in the CIS.

“The great legacy of the victory is not just a shared memory and a shared history. This memory and history were washed in blood and cost millions of lives of all the nations of the CIS. Our task, the task of the present generation is not only to preserve this huge moral resource, but also to further strengthen the friendship between our countries and people,” he said.

For his part, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Dapkiunas recalled that the preamble to the UN Charter notes the determination of the people of the united nations to save the future generations from the miseries of war. Keeping this memory alive will help to make sure that “this resoluteness never runs out, gives strength in any circumstances, situations and ordeals in our search for peaceful solutions to conflicts,” Guminsky continued.

Our Common Victory exhibition tells the history of the contribution of all CIS countries to the Great Victory,- the participation of the people of the CIS in the battles for Moscow and Stalingrad, in the Battle of Kursk, in the Belarusian offensive operation Bagration and the Berlin operation. It also displays materials about the partisan movement, the life in the Soviet rear, and the development and role of the press.

The exhibition was initiated by the CIS Plenipotentiaries Council for the 75th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The project was prepared with the assistance of the Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War and the Hero Brest Fortress memorial complex. The opening ceremony was attended by CIS plenipotentiaries, representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Belarus, representatives of the CIS Executive Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture Ministry of Belarus.