At the beginning of 2020, on the initiative of the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the action “People's Chronicle of the Great Patriotic War: Let's remember everyone!” was announced. The initiative was supported by representatives of the republic’s archival and museum institutions at a round table held in March 2020.

Numerous appeals from citizens to the Institute of History indicate that many families keep valuable documentary evidence that needs to be made available to the general public.

Coordination and scientific support of this action were entrusted to the department of military history of the Institute of History. After appealing to the public through the media, the Institute of History began receiving letters from citizens approving the action, texts of memoirs, photographs and other documentary evidence. In a short time, the first book of the chronicle was prepared and published, which was based on the memories of relatives and friends of the war participants, as well as documentary information from home archives.

The action is not only about collecting materials; one of the tasks is to intensify research work “on the ground”, at the level of schools and educational institutions in the districts. The materials collected and sent to the Institute of History also remain in place and become an element of family history and materials for school museums and clubs.

All sent information is systematized in a database and can later be used in similar historical or socio-historical studies.

The second book contains material about the search for the crash site of the plane shot down near Minsk in July 1941 and the identification of the names of the dead crew members. Both specialists and the general public of the Lahojsk region participated in research and memory restoration.

The publication of such research in collections will continue in the future. They clearly indicate a direct connection between generations and unite the public around military history.

We are convinced that it is vitally important to preserve for posterity every fact and detail – everything that became the embodiment of the spiritual strength of the Belarusian people during the difficult war years.