Over 85% of the objects that entered our collections in 2023 (i.e. 1,595 items) are donations given to us by Sybiraks, their descendants, loved ones, people interested in the subject of deportation, as well as circles and branches of the Association of Siberian Deportees.

Thanks to the decision of the Białystok branch of the Association of Siberian Deportees, the Sybir Memorial Museum received memorabilia from Siberia, collected for many years in the Museum of Sybiraks by the Holy Spirit Parish in Białystok, including the banner of the Akmolinsk Detachment of the Polish Scouting Association from Kazakhstan.

Some artifacts were brought from Argentina and Great Britain. As a result, we learn the stories of subsequent families who stayed abroad after escaping the Soviet Union and the end of World War II.

The other objects (268 pieces) were purchased from private individuals, collectors, auction houses and antique shops. In 2023, we took part in 9 auctions, where we managed to bid 14 objects, including: Jerzy Kossak’s painting “The Pursuit of a Bolshevik” and a self-portrait of the January Uprising activist Kazimierz Alchimowicz.

The year 2023 means 595 new photographic collections, 1,020 new archives and 248 new realities. What’s behind these numbers? These are the stories of over 70 families, people deported to the Soviet Union in 1940-1941, members of the Home Army, prisoners of labor camps, January insurgents, participants of the revolution of 1905-1907, as well as those who left tsarist Russia during the civil war.

These are stories immortalized in drawings of camps and fellow prisoners, in photographs showing life in pre-war Białystok, wandering through Tehran, Jerusalem and Great Britain, or the winter landscape of Vorkuta. This is the story of a revolutionary awarded the Cross of Independence with Swords, who was portrayed in 1934, the daughter of a policeman murdered in Tver. A button from his uniform sewn into a national bow is the only thing that’s left. Moreover, stories written on the pages of diaries, in makeshift notebooks made of birch bark, and documents such as for example, the act of recognizing Polish citizenship.

Each, even the smallest, exhibit donated to the Museum is carefully studied and described. We analyze its history, origin and conservation status, and determine technical parameters such as: dimensions, material and manufacturing technique, as well as the time and place of creation. The hours spent meticulously describing each of them give us the opportunity to share the stories of people affected by Soviet repression and our little discoveries — and, like last year, we will present them in monthly #skarbyzmagazynu posts on our social media and as part of the Exhibit of the Month event taking place at the Museum.

All this  would not be possible if it wasn’t for our donors, and we would like to thank them for their cooperation and trust. We are glad that together we can create the Sybir Memorial Museum!