On June 20, 2024, the opening ceremony of the Republican Youth Patriotic Forum “Citadel of Memory” took place on the Ceremony Square of the Brest Hero-Fortress Memorial Complex.

More than 140 students from 29 universities and colleges in Belarus, as well as seven Russian universities - from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pskov, Novgorod, Yeletsk - took part in the forum.

Among the honored guests of the event are Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Vladimirovich Kadlubay, Chairman of the Brest City Executive Committee Sergei Nikolaevich Lobodinsky, Rector of the Brest State Technical University Sergei Antonovich Kasperovich, member of the Presidium of the Brest Regional Council of Veterans, member of the Council of the Republic of the VI convocation, director of the Brest Memorial Complex fortress hero" from 2012 to 2023 Grigory Grigorievich Bysyuk.

“It is very important that we are constantly looking for new projects and events that allow us to preserve our Slavic identity, our mentality. I am talking about historical memory - the basis of everything in our state... On these historical days, I wish each of you good health, peace and peaceful skies over our states.

Let the historical memory grow in the minds of young people, and it is on its basis that our states will be creatively built,” noted Alexander Vladimirovich Kadlubay in his welcoming speech.

Addressing the forum participants, the mayor of Brest Sergei Nikolaevich Lobodinsky emphasized: “The Brest Fortress has always been, is and will be an inexhaustible source of patriotism. It will be the citadel of memory that we must preserve with you, so that these terrible hard times 80 years ago, when the German fascist army entered this land, never happen again. I want to thank the organizers, because these are people who understand the essence of this tragedy. And our task today is to preserve and pass this on to our future generations.”

In his speech, the Rector of BrSTU, Sergei Antonovich Kasperovich, noted the importance and significance of the event in preserving historical memory, and also expressed confidence that the participants will be able to establish new contacts, exchange experiences and creative ideas.

Each participant will remember the heartfelt words spoken by Grigory Grigorievich Bysyuk about the need to preserve and proudly carry the memory of those who, at the cost of their lives, defended peace on our land.

The “Citadel of Memory” forum is being held for the first time in Belarus on the initiative of the Brest State Technical University with the support of the Ministry of Education and the Brest City Executive Committee.

An extensive cultural and educational program has been prepared for participants. During their three days in Brest, forum guests will be able to take part in a quest tour of the Brest Fortress, attend an evening of poetry and bard song “The Bonfire of Memory,” the premiere screening of the documentary “Ordered to Live,” and the mobile museum “Victory Train.”

On the night of June 22, forum participants will take part in the requiem meeting “Be worthy of the memory of the fallen!”, and in the morning they will become spectators of the military-historical reconstruction of the defense of the Brest Fortress.

During the forum, participants will also present their projects in several categories:

• The best research work “THE FEAT OF THE WINNING HEROES”, dedicated to the feat of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War (working with archival documents, searching for new facts of the heroism of the defenders of the Fatherland);
• The best architectural project “HEROES OF VICTORY” - a project for the development of small architectural forms, monuments, monuments to perpetuate the memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War;
• The best essay “DEFENING THE HOMELAND IS DEFENDING YOUR DIGNITY” – essay competition;
• Video competition “LIVING CHRONICLE OF WAR” – filming videos about the work to perpetuate the memory of those fallen in the Great Patriotic War.