THE HERMITAGE AND HERMITAGE ARTISTS IN THE URALS. UNKNOWN PAGES (BASED ON THE ARCHIVE DOCUMENTS)
The article is devoted to the stay of the State Hermitage collections in Sverdlovsk during the Great Patriotic war. Based on the documents, the author of the article examines the events of the evacuation period, including the organization of evacuation, removal, problems with the placement of exhibits caused by the lack of necessary space for placing the most valuable exhibits, as well as the complexity of the Museum employees' accommodation. The issue of emergency evacuation of art treasures from Leningrad before the beginning of the blockade has also been raised: curtailing expositions, packaging, routing. In the article it has been shown the participation of regional authorities in solving problems related to the storage of Museum exhibits, has payed attention to the relationship of Museum employees with Sverdlovsk residents, and the stories of mutual assistance and interaction between Sverdlovsk and Leningrad Museum workers have been examined. Also the author considers the aspects of Museum workers ' daily life, problems related to the placement of unique exhibits in Sverdlovsk, and the activities of Sverdlovsk and Republican party and state bodies that responded to the requirements of Museum employees to create the necessary storage conditions. In the article is considered the story related to the placement of the evacuated collections of the Chersonesos archaeological Museum, and it is mentioned that the Crimean artifacts became the part of the Ural branch of the Leningrad Museum. Attention is also paid to the collection of Sverdlovsk posters from the great Patriotic war that was discovered in the Hermitage in the post-Soviet period. The cycles of lectures on the Humanities organized by the Hermitage branch at the Sverdlovsk University, Pedagogical, Legal and Medical Institutes, the Industrial Institute and the Regional Art School have also been referred to in the publication. The article shows the multi-faceted scientific activity of employees of Sverdlovsk branch of the Hermitage who conducted or completed serious scientific research during the evacuation period. One of the most important events during the period when the Hermitage exhibits were in Sverdlovsk was the Exhibition "The heroic military past of the Russian people" (1943). The article is also focused on the multifaceted restoration and educational activities of the Hermitage, which became the basis for professional and personal contacts between Leningrad and Sverdlovsk residents and has continued for 75 years.