"Search Teams as Guardians of Memory": Schoolchildren in Primorye Learn About Far Eastern Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

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How did Far Eastern divisions fight in the Battle of Stalingrad, why is it important to search for the graves of unknown soldiers decades later, and what to do to join the search movement? Senior school students from Vladivostok learned about all this at a meeting held at the branch of the National Centre RUSSIA in the Primorye region on 9 December.

The guests of the event "Search Teams as Guardians of Memory" were high school students from Vladivostok schools. They were told about the activities of search teams, the role of Primorye residents in the Great Patriotic War, and were shown artefacts found during search expeditions: cartridge cases, helmets, weapons and other items.

The meeting began with a minute of silence — in gratitude to those who defended the country.

"The search movement is engaged in preserving the memory of the fallen warriors of the Great Patriotic War through expeditions, searching for soldiers' remains, restoring their names, and commemorating their graves, as well as working in archives. This is a broad spectrum of activity that is necessary at all times. We hope this patriotic event will broaden the children's horizons and help them master such an important endeavour as the search movement," noted Oksana Novikova, Head of the Upbringing Department of the Primorye Ministry of Education.

Valentin Kovalchuk, Head of the Artem branch of the Russian Geographical Society, told the schoolchildren about the fate of Primorye divisions that defended Stalingrad and suffered enormous losses. Only in recent years have search teams managed to identify some of the fallen troopers and restore the memory of units considered missing in action.

Dmitry Pikhurin, filmmaker, historian and search team member showed the young guests his film titled "On the Farthest Frontiers". The film is about the contribution of Pacific soldiers and officers, who became a single fist against the enemy during the Great Patriotic War. He noted that search work in the Far East revealed unknown pages of military history to him and became the basis for creating the film.

Kirill Bashinsky, leader of the "Kaulsky Infantryman" team, and Alexander Nekrasov, commander of the team from Lesozavodsk, spoke about how search expeditions are conducted. They shared their experience of participating in excavations near Stalingrad and emphasised that anyone can become part of this movement. "Our main goal is to make sure that no soldier is forgotten," noted Alexander Nekrasov.

Alexei Moskvin, leader of the "Primorets" search team, spoke about international work, including the search for soldiers who died in China and North Korea. He reminded the schoolchildren of the history behind the Day of the Unknown Soldier and urged them to preserve the memory of those whose names remain unknown.

The event was organised by the regional Ministry of Education and timed to coincide with the Day of the Unknown Soldier and Heroes of the Fatherland Day.