An exhibition about home-front heroes opened in Bogorodsk.

      04 September 2025 11:32

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      Yesterday, September 3, an exhibition titled "Heroes of the Rear. Pages of Memory" (16+) opened in Bogorodsk. The project is being carried out by the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Information Center with the support of the "Team of Creative Practices," pravda-nn.ru reports.

      The opening took place at the Center for Extracurricular Activities and drew a full house. Extra benches even had to be brought in for everyone who wanted to attend — there were especially many schoolchildren.

      Deputy Head of the Administration of the Bogorodsk District Irina Budarina addressed the first visitors:

      "We present a rich, informative exhibition dedicated to the heroes of the home front. The front and the home front are like the two hands of one body. Victory was forged not only at the front lines but also deep in the rear. Our grandmothers and grandfathers, who were still children then, had a very hard time."

      Budarina asked the schoolchildren to imagine how their contemporaries during the war stood at the machines, plowed the land, and took part in building defensive lines.

      "They did the same work as adults. That commands respect and requires our remembrance," she emphasized. "Moreover, remembering is not enough; it is important to truly understand it."

      Larisa Avdeeva, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Nizhegorodskaya Pravda, said that project participants analyzed about 4,000 pages of Gorkovskaya Kommuna and prepared photo reproductions of newspaper pages reflecting wartime events in the region. These materials contain the fates of people who helped bring Victory closer on the home front: in the fields, at factories, on farms.

      Thanks to augmented reality technology, archival pages "come to life": pointing a phone camera at the posters reveals historical footage and lets you hear eyewitness accounts. Ten videos were created as part of the project about how women and children worked, how collective farms operated, how residents of the region helped evacuees and assembled parcels for the front.

      Julia Polyakova, a columnist for Nizhegorodskaya Pravda, spoke about the labor feats of residents of the Gorky region and, in particular, the Bogorodsk district.

      According to her, Gorkovskaya Kommuna often wrote about the Bogorodsk district's contribution to the Victory. For example, the work of the kolkhoz "Iskra," which was led by Pavel Dyomin, was noted. When his name was mentioned at the exhibition opening, many of those present nodded approvingly — his memory lives on.

      Vera Mamykina, chair of the Council of Veterans of the Bogorodsk District, recalled:

      "He was short, bearded, wore a trench coat and white burki. My grandfather told me in childhood how skillfully Pavel Mikhailovich ran the farm: before sowing he would first check whether the ground had warmed up. And how many people he helped! If needed — he would give his grain, his potatoes. That was the kind of person he was. Even Khrushchev visited him! He was respected and is still remembered."

      But the press did not write about everything then. As Vadim Andryukhin, editor-in-chief of Novoe Delo, noted, there were also off-limits topics. He said that during the war the state security agencies in the region identified and arrested 120 German spies, among them 26 paratroopers.

      Interesting facts were also shared by Alla Bogdanova, head of the methodological department of the Bogorodsk Historical Museum, and Natalya Alexandrova, editor-in-chief of the Bogorodskaya Gazeta.

      Exhibition visitors could see authentic items found at battle sites: helmets, mess tins and other exhibits provided by the regional search organization "Kurgan."

      The exhibition also features works by participants in a creative contest timed to the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland. This contest is being held as part of the project.

      Irina Budarina invited all residents to visit the exhibition. In Bogorodsk the exhibition will be on display until September 14.

      After that the project will go on to Pavlovo, Dalneye Konstantinovo, Lyskovo, Vorotynets, as well as Pilna and Kstovo.

      The project is scheduled to conclude in December.

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