Maxim Rebrov: "Through their creativity, young people continue the relay of remembrance of hometown heroes"

      10 November 2025 20:13 Society

      The final stage of the regional contest "Our Heroes" (0+) took place at the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The event, timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, brought together the authors of the best works selected from two hundred submissions based on the preliminary stage. The competition, in which schoolchildren, students of secondary vocational and higher education institutions took part, was initiated by the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

      The key theme of the contest was preserving the living memory of local heroes and passing it from generation to generation. The young participants demonstrated different approaches to exploring this theme. Essays, poems, posters and videos were presented. A new approach to preserving historical memory was also exemplified by a project from RANEPA student Svetlana Makarova.

      She developed a Telegram chat-bot, the "Encyclopedia 'Kstovo Heroes'," which allows users to learn about the biographies of 14 hometown heroes. The "Encyclopedia" contains a fighter’s biography, an account of the feat, a photograph and QR codes linking to archival documents. The project won in the student category.

      "I thought it would be interesting to me and my peers. I researched where young people communicate most, what I usually use, and thought, why not put useful information there. We are used to receiving content quickly, so I tried to make the memory of our fellow townspeople's deeds accessible in one click," Svetlana said.

      "Today we witnessed something more than just a contest. The performances of our finalists were filled with sincere, poignant emotions that left no one in the hall indifferent. The young people, with emotion and a lump in their throats, read their own poems, spoke about the heroes' feats and about their fates after the war. And in this lies the greatest value of our contest. When a young person with shining eyes tells the story of his family, it becomes clear: for him the Great Patriotic War is not dry lines in a textbook, but a personal history. It is this living memory, this connection between generations, that we strive to preserve today," noted Deputy and Head of the Legislative Assembly’s Office Maksim Rebrov.

      Full information about the winners and prize-winners of the contest can be found on the website of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

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