Kopyl regional executive committee

“It is known that the Belarusian land has witnessed bloody battles more than once,” says Igor Gruto, candidate of historical sciences at the Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim Tank, at the festival. - Reconstructions of this kind, such as Berezina, help to clearly understand what our people had to go through. In November 1812, one of the greatest tragedies of European history was played out in the territory of modern Minsk region. At the beginning of the 19th century, two great armies converged. Here, on the banks of the Berezina River in the village of Studenka on the Brilevsky Field, the fate of not only Napoleon and the French army, but also of all Europe was decided. And the people who gathered here these days were united by the memory of that great tragedy. Before the military-historical reconstruction of Berezina-2019 began, flowers were laid at the monuments of French and Russian soldiers on the Brilevsky field The festival annually illustrates the events of Napoleon crossing the Berezina at the Belarusian villages of Studenka and Brili. Participants in 55 historical clubs from Belarus, Russia, France, Poland and the Netherlands recreate the moment the Russian army was pursuing Napoleon’s troops. “Every year the scenario changes - we select one of the episodes of the battle and try to reliably recreate it,” says Igor Gruto. - The main sources are memoirs of the soldiers of the Great Army under the leadership of Napoleon, memoirs of officers of the Russian Imperial Army. During the “battle”, the host quoted many of these memories in order to present the audience with the most reliable picture of those events. This year, the main emphasis was placed on a feat that was performed by representatives of Napoleon’s army - the pontoons who built bridges across the Berezina. About 400 people built them in extremely unfavorable climatic conditions (that November it was -23 ° С). Especially for the reconstruction of those events on the river, part of the pontoon bridge was recreated. For greater realism, "houses" were equipped next to it, symbolically designating the village of Studenka. The main task of the Russian troops in the reconstruction is to capture the village and impede the ability to use the bridge to cross the troops of the Great Army. Accordingly, the task of the Napoleonic soldiers is the opposite: not to allow the Russians to establish control over Studenka. The battle on Berezina was actually the last in Napoleon’s Russian campaign. France did not fight anymore. 207 years have passed since then. But even today, if they talk about the war of 1812, they primarily remember the final events - the crossing of the Berezina. Solange Garampon arrived with her husband to see the same “Berezina”. She is interested in everything related to the life of Napoleon. For the first time in Belarus: - It was important for me to see these places, monuments with my own eyes. I have heard a lot about them since childhood. My cousin worked as a teacher at school and talked a lot about the history of the Napoleonic Wars. From early childhood I have associations that it’s cold, wet and snowy around Berezina. But it turned out to be warmer. I really wanted to visit the monument to the fallen French soldiers - my friend talked a lot about him.: Jerome Bocourt has known Borisov since 2006. He develops the Napoleonic Research Center, and his father was one of the initiators of the installation of the monument to the fallen French soldiers in 1995, which is located on the Brilevsky field. By the way, the monument was created with the participation of the famous Belarusian sculptor Ivan Misko. “Every year the festival is gaining popularity, this is a great opportunity to tell Belarus about the whole world,” Jerome shares. - This year for the first time at the monument, in addition to laying flowers, a fire was lit in memory of an unknown French soldier who is buried here. Dmitry Shedko came to the festival in a rare uniform - civilian outerwear of representatives of the postal department of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Empire. “Such clothes could be worn either by the director of the post office or the capital's adviser,” says Dmitry. - Find a description of this uniform on the Internet immediately does not work. I dug up a lot of archival materials. The fact is that in Russia, the codification of a civilian uniform was a little later. It was fortunate that a sewing pattern on cuffs (from cornflowers and bread ears) was preserved. Buttons are a different story altogether. Please note this is not a simple double-headed eagle. There is a post horn in his paws. Buttons made to order. Even the dress coat shape changed during this period. Then they could be found in different variations. For example, there are military uniforms that are completely fastened on the chest and at the bottom they have a straight cut. But I don’t fasten it in principle and its bottom has a rounding. Next year I plan to be in French clothes. Now I'm working on it. In the uniform of Jan Konopka, a native of the Slonim region, who served in the French army when Napoleon invaded the Russian Empire, came Alexei Gursky, deputy chairman of the council of the military-historical unity, a member of the organizing committee of the regional executive committee for organizing the festival. In the "battle" served as the brigadier general of the Great Army. “The Berezina festival is gaining momentum: now it is one of the five largest in the world in Napoleonics,” says Alexey. - In the current composition of the organizing committee, we are already conducting the fourth project of this magnitude. Traditionally, the French embassy also takes part. The head of Borisov is a fan of the festival, he understands what this project means for the region. Therefore, Berezina will definitely grow further. Creating their own image, uniformists think through everything to the smallest detail. Three-cornered coats, uniforms, epaulets, sabers, smooth-bore guns with a flintlock, guns ... On the Brilevsky field, the audience was completely immersed in the Napoleonic era. “They couldn’t take their eyes off,” Ksenia Kokhan shared her emotions from what she saw. - The whole family came from Minsk to look at the reconstruction. The children of Agnia and Nazar are delighted with the military uniform of the time. We are fond of traveling in Belarus. We make a route - and we leave. Accidentally found a festival poster and decided to come. The first thing that impressed was a huge number of people. It can be seen that the event is of interest not only to Belarusians. Despite the frost and the weekend, so many people gathered! It's great! It is breathtaking when you watch a battle. Even a little creepy - we were not ready for such realism. It was interesting to listen to the commentator. There was a desire to learn more about this war and to come again next year.