Night battles at the museum

Dnipropetrovsk – The Yavornytsky History Museum created a new drama night tour called “We’ll become soldiers for a while.” It is devoted to the war years in Dnipropetrovsk and the region: the German occupation, the resistance movement and the forcing of the Dnipro, one of the greatest military operations of World War II. The performance lasts one hour and takes place in four rooms of the museum and at the Battle of the Dnipro diorama. The purpose of the dramatized tour is to remind the younger generations about the well-known events, and reveal little-known facts. Museum staff will show tour participants what Dnipropetrovsk looked like in 1941-43, explain what the fascist “New Order” meant at the time, and talk about the people of the epoch.

“The dramatized performance includes a lot of staged scenes, audio and video effects,” says the museum’s senior research fellow Alla Moskalets. “They will help viewers immerse themselves in the wartime atmosphere. We selected events that involved our city and region directly. We would like to remind once again about soldiers who died during the forcing of the Dnipro. Members of the military historical reenactment club East Wall are to perform in the dramatized tour.”

The performance takes place around the night visitors, allowing them to become not just spectators but participants – to experience the brutality of the occupation regime first-hand, join the ranks as inexperienced recruits, taste genuine carrot tea, black hardtack, front-line “100 grams” [the 100 grams of vodka that soldiers received. – Ed.], and take pictures.

“Reenactors are not professional actors,” says the head of the military historical club Oleksandr Khomenko. “But it is they who are trying to explore the history of the war in detail. Therefore, they are even better at getting used to their roles than actors are. Much of the work to create the performance fell to the East Wall club boys; they wrote the script and directed the performance. I want the audience to feel themselves become co-participants of the events, and experience the tragic history of the epoch.”