Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
To mark the 80th anniversary of our country’s victory in the war, a virtual exhibition has opened on the portal of the SPbPU Information and Library Complex “The Fundamental Library of LPI during the Great Patriotic War”The project is not just a tribute to memory, but a digital archive dedicated to the selfless work of the librarians of the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute during the most difficult years.
During the siege of Leningrad, the library staff did not stop working for a single day. Without heating, by the light of kerosene lamps, in conditions of constant threat to life, they continued to provide students and teachers with access to knowledge. The library served as both an academic and psychological refuge.
We couldn’t abandon books. This was our second front – the front of knowledge, – one of the library employees recalls in an archival interview.
The exhibition presents unique documents, photographs, letters and memoirs – evidence of an unbroken spirit. One of the exhibits is a list of books given out on the eve of the heaviest bombing, with “returned” marks for almost every reader.
Even in the winter of 1942, students came for textbooks. The reading room became the only warm place for many, says a note from the head of the library at that time.
The project emphasizes that the library is not just a building with books, but a cultural and spiritual front that contributed to the Victory.
Today, when archives are becoming digital and memory is interactive, the virtual exhibition takes on special significance. It is not just a memory of the past – it is a living story told in the language of facts, documents and personal tragedies. Every scan, every photograph on the portal is a reminder that even in the most terrible times, people continued to believe in the power of knowledge.
The exhibition will be of particular interest to students, researchers and anyone interested in the history of Leningrad and Russian education. This is a rare opportunity to look into the past – through the eyes of those who stood firm and won.
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