The Belarusian people cherish the memory of the tragic events of the Great Patriotic War, the heroism and courage of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, the human sacrifices, and the price of the Great Victory.
Military-patriotic search detachments play a special role in preserving historical memory, with their primary objective being to immortalise the memory of fallen soldiers. Behind every relic found by searchers on battlefields lies the fate and name of a person who was considered missing in action for all these years.
The Museum of the History of Private Collections in Vitebsk presented a thematic exhibition titled "We are Faithful to This Memory". The initiative to create this exhibition project came from Larisa Brueva, Chairperson of the Council for Interaction of Search Detachments of the Vitebsk Region "Poshuk". The exhibition showcases materials on the history of the search movement in the Vitebsk region from 1984 to the present day.
The first search detachments and clubs began to appear in the Vitebsk region in the 1980s: "Iskatel" (Seeker) of Vocational School No. 96 and "Poisk" (Search) of Vocational School No. 19 in Vitebsk, "Razvedchiki voinskoi slavy" (Scouts of Military Glory) of Secondary School No. 2 in Novopolotsk, and "Rusichi" of Vocational School No. 110 in Orsha.
The first "Watches of Memory" and search expeditions in Belarus were conducted in the Dubrovno, Vitebsk, Liozno, Shumilino, and Polotsk districts of the Vitebsk region. Following the first regional search camp for educational institutions held near Lake Losvido, search detachments began to be formed based on the councils of school museums of military glory.
In April 1991, there were about 30 detachments in the Vitebsk region, part of the Vitebsk Regional Association "Poshuk", registered by the All-Union Association of Search Organisations "People's Memory of Fallen Defenders of the Fatherland".
The glorious traditions of the search movement in the Vitebsk region, within the framework of the Belarusian-Russian programme "Nebo Rodiny" (Sky of the Motherland), are today continued by searchers from the "Razvedchiki Voinskoi Slavy" detachment of Novopolotsk, the "Gromovtsy" detachment of the State Educational Institution "Secondary School No. 40 of Vitebsk named after M.M. Gromov", and the "Aviapoisk" detachment of Borisov.
Thanks to the efforts of search teams, the remains of over 4,000 fallen defenders of the Fatherland have been recovered and reburied in the Vitebsk region over 35 years. Search detachments "Iskatel" and "RVS" have located the crash sites of eleven aircraft from the 1st and 3rd Air Armies and Long-Range Aviation, recovered the remains of their crews, and identified and commemorated their names. Through many years of research work with archival documents, many relatives of fallen soldiers have learned about and been able to visit the places where the remains of their loved ones rest.
The following institutions actively cooperate with search teams and carry out extensive archival and memorial work: the People's Museum "History of the Zarony Region" of Vitebsk District, the People's Museum of Combat Glory of the 39th Army at the Educational Institution "Gymnasium No. 5 of Vitebsk named after I.I. Lyudnikov," the People's Museum of Combat Glory of the 251st Vitebsk Rifle Division, the Historical Museum of the Educational Institution "Voronovskaya Secondary School of Vitebsk District named after I.E. Beskhlebny," the People's Museum of the Educational Institution "Secondary School No. 2 of Novopolotsk named after E.A. Trapeznikova," and the Historical and Local Lore Museum of the Educational Institution "Matyushevskaya Basic School of Polotsk District named after P.E. Kupriyanov."