Chernobyl – our memory and pain

26.04.2024

Chernobyl is our memory and pain. The events of those years still excite minds; the significance of the tragedy cannot be overestimated. Trying to understand the full scale of the tragedy and plunge into those unforgettable days, workers of the Gomel city department for emergency situations visited the Chernobyl Museum.

For reference: The museum is open in 2021. Unique of its kind. The exhibition is majestically headed by a bust of the hero of the Soviet Union Leonid Telyatnikov, who in the first hours led all measures to extinguish the fire at the emergency power unit. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is regarded as the largest in the history of nuclear energy. April 26, 1986 is a sad date for the history of the fire service of Belarus.

After watching the video about the liquidators, it immediately became clear who was the first at the scene of the tragedy – the firefighters. As you know, it was the firefighters who immediately rushed to eliminate the consequences of the terrible accident, and the first victims were among people of this profession.

Every centimeter of the museum is filled with photographs, telegrams and memories of participants in the terrible tragedy. In a place of honor are photographs of 28 men. These are the firefighters who were the first to arrive at the scene of the emergency.

“If it weren’t for the work of these heroes, no one knows what would have happened next, because a fire not extinguished in time could have led to the explosion of not only the fourth reactor, but also the entire nuclear power plant,” the specialist from the Center for Life Safety and Public Relations of the Gomel Regional Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations continued her story. Alevtina Klimovich.

On one of the walls of the museum the numbers “01.23” are glowing, the very time when the explosion occurred. A special place in the museum is occupied by the “tree-cross”, which survived the explosion and became a memorial sign of the accident, and a model of the exploded fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant makes it clear the scale of the accident.

The museum has an extensive exhibition: a large collection of documents and personal belongings, combat clothing of liquidators, personal protective equipment, dosimeters and many other items that were used to combat spreading radiation.

During their stay in the museum, none of the young workers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations remained indifferent to the Chernobyl tragedy. It is worth noting that it is very important for young people to know and remember that the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant forever changed the usual view of environmental safety on the planet.