The main exhibition project dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory will open in the Historical Museum

On April 28, 2025, at 11:00 a.m., the State Historical Museum will host a press screening of the historical and documentary exhibition "Without the Right to be Forgotten. On the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory", prepared by order of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin.

The State Historical Museum and the Rosarchive, together with the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Defense, the FSB, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, and the Russian Historical Society, with the participation of archival institutions and museums, are presenting an exhibition of archival documents and artifacts showing the most important events of the Great Patriotic War and the crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices.

The chronological framework of the exhibition ranges from the invasion of Nazi Germany and its satellites into the USSR on June 22, 1941, to the Victory Day Parade on Red Square in Moscow on June 24, 1945, which became a symbol of the end of the Great Patriotic War.

Visitors to the exhibition will have a unique opportunity to see the main historical rarities – more than 500 archival documents and 700 museum exhibits that show the decisive contribution of the Soviet people to the Victory over Nazi Germany and its satellites, tell about the great feat of the multinational Soviet people and the Red Army, about the enormous sacrifices suffered by the USSR in the name of saving the world from fascism.

The exhibition presents personal belongings of the heroes of the Soviet Union - Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Alexander Matrosov, Alexei Maresyev, sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko; documents of female pilots from the legendary night aviation regiment Taman ("night witches"), members of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" in Krasnodon. Among the unique documents are the original decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of orders and medals during the Great Patriotic War, as well as the awards themselves, including the Order of Victory. For the first time, the exhibition will feature a complete set of awards of the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Union, I.V. Stalin, which he was awarded during the war.

The section of the exhibition "Ordinary Nazism" includes documents about the atrocities of the Nazi invaders, Ukrainian and Baltic nationalists, about the monstrous treatment of Soviet prisoners of war and peaceful citizens - prisoners of concentration camps, which became real "death factories".

The final hall of the exposition symbolizes the triumph of the victorious people. The most valuable state relic will be presented here - the Victory Banner hoisted over the defeated Reichstag by soldiers of the 150th Infantry Order of Kutuzov II degree of the Idritsky Division of the 79th Infantry Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. Among the unique documents is the original text of Marshal G.K. Zhukov's speech, which he delivered on June 24, 1945 at the Victory Day Parade. Several pages with handwritten notes by the legendary commander have preserved traces of the rain that fell on Moscow on that momentous day.

Andrey Artizov, Head of the Rosarchive, said: "Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, it is important to tell the true truth about the war and the enormous price the Soviet Union paid to save humanity from Nazism. This truth has always been and will always be with us – without the right to be forgotten."

Alexey Levykin, General Director of the State Historical Museum, said: "The organization of the main exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the State Historical Museum is particularly symbolic. Our museum witnessed two significant events of that era: in November 1941, regiments marched past the walls of its walls, immediately after the parade to defend the capital, and in June 1945, victorious soldiers marched triumphantly through Red Square. The memory of the Great Patriotic War and the heroic deed of the Soviet people is not subject to oblivion or revision. As witnesses of modern events in the world, we are clearly aware of the consequences of the falsification of historical facts, which is disastrous for the state and society."

Address: Moscow, Exhibition Complex of the Historical Museum, Revolution Square, 2/3

Dates: April 30 - August 25, 2025