Photo by RIA Novosti. 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division, 4th Shock Army, 1st Baltic Front
On December 18, at 12:00 (Moscow time), the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly and the International Congress of the Commonwealth of Countries of the World will hold a regular session of the International Public Forum, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the formation of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division.
The combat formation was formed on the territory of the Gorky region from among refugees evacuated from Lithuania, as well as soldiers and officers of the former 29th Rifle Territorial Lithuanian Corps.
The 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division became an example of the unity and cohesion of the peoples of the USSR in the fight against Nazism. The division consisted of 3720 Lithuanians (36.3%), 3064 Russians (29%), 2973 (29%) Jews, 492 (4.8%) representatives of other nationalities.
The combat path of the 16th Lithuanian rifle division is marked in the history of the Great Patriotic War by the names of 12 Heroes of the Soviet Union and thousands of names of Unknown soldiers who gave their lives for the victory over Nazism.
From July to August 1943, the 16th Lithuanian Infantry Division took part in the Kursk Bulge. Then it was transferred to Belarus; there it also distinguished itself in battles on the Kalinin front.
The division met the victorious 1945 year with an offensive operation to defeat the enemy grouping in the Klaipeda region.
For the liberation of the main port of Lithuania, the division received the name "Klaipedskaya".
The forum will be attended by representatives of six countries - Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Israel.
The topic of the forum will be the international work carried out by historians, representatives of public organizations to preserve the historical memory and heritage of the legendary military formation.
Moderators:
- Valery RUZIN, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, President of the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio (Russia);
- Yuriyus TRAKSHELIS, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Chairman of the Military Heritage Institute NGO (Lithuania).
Welcome speech:
- Alexey ISAKOV, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Lithuania;
- Andrey BELYANINOV, Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.
The forum will be attended by:
- Yulius-Lyonginas DEKSNIS, Chairman of the Republican Committee of the Organization of World War II Participants who fought on the side of the anti-Hitler coalition living in Lithuania (Lithuania);
- Larisa STADLER, Doctor, President of the International Congress of the Commonwealth of the Nations of the World, Head of the Confederation of Women (Israel);
- Natalya BODROVA, Deputy Head of the Department for the Preservation of Historical Heritage of the Second World War and Local Conflicts of the International Congress of the Commonwealth of the Countries of the World, Chairman of the Interregional Public Organization Search Unit "Fakel" (Oryol State Institute of Culture) (Russia - Israel) - "History of the formation of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division";
- Galina TREUSHKOVA, history teacher at the Alekseevskaya Basic School of General Education (Russia) - “Preserving the historical memory of the unique 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division: succession of generations”;
- Haim BARGMAN, historian, representative of the Jewish community of Lithuania (Lithuania) - "Secrets of the 16th Lithuanian Infantry Division";
- Giedrius GRABAUSKAS, historian, journalist (Lithuania - Russia) - “16th Lithuanian Infantry Division and Soviet Partisan Movement in Lithuania”;
- Stanislav TOMAS lawyer, publicist (Lithuania) - "Legal aspects of the establishment of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division";
- Yuri BARABASH, member of the Public Association “Belarusian Union of Suvorovites and Cadets” (Belarus) - “Combat Route of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division in Belarus”;
- Viktor ORLOV, Director of the Forgotten Soldiers Association of Military History (Lithuania) - “Aspects of perpetuating the military historical memory of the 16th Lithuanian Infantry Division in Lithuania”;
- Alexey BODROV, Head of the Department for the Preservation of the Historical Heritage of the Second World War and Local Conflicts of the International Congress of the Commonwealth of the Countries of the World, Head of the Guardian Motorsport Military-Patriotic Club (Russia) - Project “Dialogue of Cultures in the Context of History: 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division";
- Irina BABRAUSKENE, Executive Secretary of the Board of Organizations of Russian Citizens in Lithuania (Lithuania, Alytus) - “16th Lithuanian Rifle Division in the memory of descendants”;
- Andrey LAZURIN, Head of the military-historical association "FRONT LINE", representative for international relations of the Tallinn Society of World War II Participants (Estonia) - "The 16th Lithuanian Uniting History";
- Anatoly LAVRITOV, Member of the Board of Organizations of Russian Citizens in Lithuania, Chairman of the Klaipeda Organization of Russian Citizens (Lithuania, Klaipeda) - “The memory of the 16th Lithuanian rifle division of descendants living in the Klaipeda region”;
- Vyacheslav AFONIN, Head of the public association "Kaunas Regional Association of Participants in the War in Afghanistan, Disabled and Veterans of Military Service"; Head of the Russian community of Kaunas (Lithuania, Kaunas) - “Integration of the activities of public organizations in Kaunas (Lithuania) in the general process of preserving the military-historical heritage in the Baltic”;
- Konstantin BELOV, Chairman of the Board of the Youth League of the Pskov Region (Russia) - “Youth volunteer projects for the preservation of historical memory in Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus in 2021”;
- Ramazan NAZAROV, Chairman of the Board of the Liepaja Society of Military Pensioners, Board Member of the Search Center "Libava" (Latvia) - “Participation of the 16th Lithuanian Infantry Division in the Liberation of Courland (Latvia)”;
- Dmitry RYBNIKOV, Deputy Chairman of the NGO "Daugavpils Branch of the Russian Community of Latvia" (Latvia) - "The Eternal Flame is a gift from grateful descendants."
Watch the broadcast on the official Facebook of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly: https://www.facebook.com/EurasiaAssembly/