Exhibition "Time to live and remember" in St. Petersburg

03.07.2024

In March-April 2024, an exhibition dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the St. Petersburg regional public organisation "Union", which unites former juvenile prisoners of Nazi concentration camps, was held in St. Petersburg. The exhibition was called "Time to Live and Remember" and was placed in one of the best Russian museums - the Museum of Political History of Russia. Its opening was preceded by a round table discussion that focused primarily on the need to preserve the memory of the victims of the Second World War.

Natalia Timofeeva, PhD in History, member of the International Committee of Ravensbrück, made a report on Soviet victims of Nazi forced labour repatriated to the USSR in 1944-1952. Interesting was the speech of Alexey Moiseyev, president of the Motorcycle Club of Volosovo, Leningrad region, member of the search team "Avangard". He initiated the search operations in Volosovo, where an attempt is now being made to create a memorial complex dedicated to Soviet prisoners of war.

Most of the exhibits are of a personal nature. They were provided by family members of former prisoners of Ravensbrück and Auschwitz. They include a cross that the grandmother of the deputy of the public organisation "Soyuz" Victoria Lukyanova managed to save during her imprisonment and forced labour in one of the branches of Auschwitz, and the request of the chairperson of the organisation and former prisoner of Ravensbrück Stella Nikiforova to the International Red Cross about her mother who died in the crematorium of Ravensbrück.

The opening of the exhibition was attended by people of different ages, from young female students - assistant organisers to experienced former prisoners of Nazi camps. A representative of the Social Policy Department of the St. Petersburg City Hall welcomed the audience.