Birch bark letters from Siberia were written by people exiled to Soviet Gulag labor camps. Often they had only birch bark for writing letters, especially during the World War II when paper was scarcity everywhere. In 2023 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, submitted a joint application to include birch bark letters from Siberia (1945–1965) in the UNESCO "Memory of the World" Register. The application presents 148 items, including letters and other documents on birch bark.[2][3]
The preparations for this submission were started in 2015 by representatives of the three Baltic States.[4]
Estonia
editIn Estonia they are kept in the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom and in the Estonian History Museum.[3]
Latvia
editIn 2009 the collection "Letters written in Siberia on birch bark" („Sibīrijā rakstītas vēstules uz bērza tāss”) was included in the Latvian national register of the UNESCO program "Memory of the World". It consists of 45 letters written in prisons and camps between 1941 and 1965.[5]
In Latvia they are kept in the Tukums Museum, Aizkraukle History and Art Museum, Daugava Museum, Latvian Occupation Museum, Madona Regional Research and Art Museum, Museum of Literature and Music, Talsi County Museum, Latvian National History Museum[6][7]
Lithuania
editOn May 21, 2015, together with other objects, birch bark letters kept in the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights were entered into the Lithuania's national register of the “Memory of the World”[8][4]
Poland
editThey are preserved in the museums of Poland: Museum of Rev. Józef Jarzębowski in Licheń Stary[9][10] and in the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk.[11] In 2023 the Institute of National Remembrance received a diary made of birch bark written in Siberian exile.[11] In 2023 Archiwum Kresowe in Zielona Góra received photographs of a similar diary from a private archive.[12]
Ukraine
editLibrary of Congresss
editIn the U.S. Library of Congress; [13] [14] [15] [16] [17][18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [1]
References
edit- ^ a b Image 2 of Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Kārlis Roberts Kalevics, October 1, 1941
- ^ Letters on birch bark written by Ukrainian political prisoners from Siberia will be included in the UNESCO heritage list – Ministry of Culture
- ^ a b Baltics, Poland, Ukraine submit gulag birch bark letters to UNESCO register
- ^ a b Dokumentai ant beržo tošies – į UNESCO Pasaulio paveldo registrą
- ^ Latvijas nacionālais reģistrs
- ^ https://www.unesco.org/archives/multimedia/document-2623
- ^ UNESCO programma „Pasaules atmiņa” Latvijas nacionālais reģistrs
- ^ http://genocid.lt/muziejus/en/807/c/
- ^ LETTERS ON BIRCH BARK: HISTORY AND CONSERVATION OF OBJECTS FROM THE MUSEUM OF REV. JÓZEF JARZĘBOWSKI IN LICHEŃ STARY
- ^ Życzenia z łagru
- ^ a b Archiwum IPN otrzymało niezwykłe pamiątki. To świadectwo o osobach, które zesłano na Syberię
- ^ Przyjaciele z zesłania. Ludmiła Marczak ze Stryjówki koło Zbaraża i jej syberyjski sztambuch na brzozowej korze spisany.
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667710/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667711/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667713/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667714/
- ^ Letter and Poems on Birch Bark from Siberia by Gaida Eglīte, May 24, 1949.
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667716/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667717/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667718/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667719/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667720/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667721/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667722/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667723/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667724/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667725/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667726/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667727/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667728/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667729/