An exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Chelyuskin epic will open at the Northern Maritime Museum

Guests will be treated to not just an exhibition, but a whole study dedicated to an important topic – determining the role of the unique rescue operation that took place in the Far East, on the ice of the Chukchi Sea, identifying its heritage, numerous cultural manifestations, the formation of the institution of National Heroes and the significance that the Chelyuskin epic played in the life of our country and the world.

The textbook history of the expedition on the Chelyuskin steamship, which in one navigation in 1933 was supposed to repeat the through passage of the Arkhangelsk icebreaking steamer Alexander Sibiryakov along the Northern Sea Route, is familiar to everyone.

As is known, the ship, led by Captain V.I. Voronin and Professor O.Yu. Shmidt, got stuck in the ice and, after several months of drift, was crushed by ice and sank in the Chukchi Sea on February 13, 1934. Exactly two months, until April 13, 1934, a tent camp was set up right on the ice, called Camp Schmidt.

A commission was organized in Moscow to rescue the Chelyuskinites. As a result, all 104 people were successfully rescued using polar aviation. The return of the expedition members to Moscow was a triumph. A parade was held on Red Square, and the pilots were the first in history to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The country received its first Heroes – polar explorers, scientists, sailors, pilots. All those who did not surrender to the elements and circumstances.

Among the participants in the Chelyuskin epic, by the way, there were many northerners. In addition to the well-known captain Vladimir Voronin, these are his assistants Sergei Gudin, Mikhail Markov and Vladimir Pavlov, stokers Nikolai Butakov, Valerian Parshinsky, Boris Kukushkin, sailors Grigory Durasov, Gennady Baranov and many others. In fact, for the first time, their biographies and destinies will be the subject of separate consideration.

The name of the exhibition comes from the name of the wall newspaper “We Will Not Surrender!”, which was published in the Schmidt camp. Later, a play with the same name was written and staged at the Bolshoi Drama Theater in Leningrad. Working materials for the performance, as well as the history of the filming of documentaries and feature films dedicated to the Chelyuskin epic, will also be presented at the exhibition. Exhibition project “We won’t give up!” contains a number of interesting artistic solutions, presenting a well-known story in a new light.

— The exhibition is based on a story about the fate of the participants of the expedition on the new steamship “Chelyuskin”, just built in Denmark, which set off along the Northern Sea Route under the leadership of Academician O. Yu. Schmidt. A year before this voyage, another Soviet ship, the icebreaking steamer Alexander Sibiryakov, for the first time sailed from Arkhangelsk to the Bering Strait in one navigation. This expedition showed the prospects of using the Northern Sea Route, which should have been confirmed by the voyage on the Chelyuskin. The core of the ship’s crew were northerners, led by the legendary captain V.I. Voronin. Unfortunately, difficult ice conditions did not allow us to carry out our plans. First, the ship drifted, and on February 13, 1934, it was crushed in the Chukchi Sea. 104 people ended up on the ice. The further history of the rescue of the inhabitants of the Schmidt camp is one of the brightest pages of the Soviet past. As a result of a unique rescue operation, carried out primarily by polar aviation forces, seven pilots were nominated for the specially established title of Heroes of the Soviet Union. The return of the Chelyuskinites and their meeting, first in Moscow and then in Arkhangelsk, became a real triumph. One of the participants in the expedition was the correspondent of the Northern regional publication “Pravda Severa” A. Mironov. The exhibition project reveals not only the course of the expedition, but also its influence on the course of Russian history, the colossal propaganda effect, numerous cultural references and manifestations that testify to the importance of the Chelyuskin epic in the life of our country,” said exhibition curator Vasily Abramovsky.

Admission on the opening day, April 26, is free.