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Exhibition Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Upper Don Rebellion is Opened in Sholokhov-Centre

An opening ceremony of the exhibition “…Brothers, Do not Judge Your Brother…” dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Upper Don Rebellion, one of the most tragic pages in the history of the Don Cossacks, took place in Rostov-on-Don, Sholokhov-Centre of the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov.

The rebellion broke out on the night of March 10 –11, 1919, in Shumilin Village, in response to the Bolsheviks’ policy towards the Cossacks. Cossacks subjected to merciless terror aimed at complete destruction of Cossacks proved to be capable of self-organization, they acted clearly, consistently and quickly. Being professional fighters they within three days mobilized, formed detachments, elected a provisional district council. The rebellion covered the whole of the Upper Don country, four hundred versts in circumference. “Twenty-five thousand Cossacks mounted the horses. Ten thousand infantry squads started from the Upper Don villages”, – M.A.Sholokhov wrote in his novel “And Quiet Flows the Don”. Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya, as a district stanitsa, became the centre, where the rebel headquarters were located.

The Upper Don rebellion is brightly and reliably depicted in the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don” by M.A.Sholokhov. The writer was the first to tell openly about the deepest tragedy of the people and showed the readers the truth about its causes.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition “…Brothers, Do not Judge Your Brother…” was attended by representatives of the public, creative intellectuals, Cossacks, the workers of the Don museums, Sholokhov scholars. The audience was greeted by A.M.Sholokhov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Culture of the RF State Duma, M.A.Bespalov, Depuity Ataman of the Great Don Army, a Cossack colonel, S.A.Manankina, Chairman of the Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Information Policy of the Rostov Region Legislative Assembly, A.A.Dmitriyeva, the Rostov Region Minister of Culture, M.M.Aleinikov, Ataman of the Upper Don District.

A.M.Sholokhov noted that the sad events which took place 100 years ago in the Upper Don region touched every Cossack family. March 11, is a day of memory, sorrow and learning lessons. Today the study in the origins and outcome of the uprising remains topical, and the words “…Brothers, Do not Judge Your

Brother…” taken from the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don” reflect the purpose of the exhibition in the best possible way.

A.A.Dmitriyeva underlined that the exhibition had become a major cultural event in the South of Russia. It was prepared by the National M.A.Sholokhov Museum-Reserve, the Rostov Regional Museum of Local History, the Novocherkassk Museum of the Don Cossack History, the cultural and exhibition centre “Don Cossack Guards” and the Don State Public Library.

O.A.Anistratenko, Director of the National M.A.Sholokhov Museum-Reserve, spoke about the work over the exhibition, about the support and assistance of other museums that allowed the exhibition to be more complete and deeply reflecting the historical truth of the events of 1919.

The exhibition opening ceremony was joined by O.I.Golubeva, the wife of the Don Governor. She marked that the theme of the new exhibition is very difficult, but it is topical, and it is good that in Rostov-on-Don now there is an area where we can speak openly about those terrible events.

The guests of Sholokhov-Centre were given a theatrical tour taking them into the atmosphere of the Upper Don events of 1919. The visitors heard fragments of the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don” by M.A.Sholokhov, followed the path of Grigory Melekhov, the hero of the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don” by M.A.Sholokhov, and got an idea of the origin, causes and events of the rebellion.

The exhibition shows documents, photos, illustrations to the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don” made by the well-known artists, posters, objects telling about the life of the Don Cossacks early in the XX century, about participation of the Cossacks in the First World War, about the events of the revolution and Civil War in the Don country.

The visitors were attracted by the manuscripts of M.A.Sholokhov and the first publicatons of his works, the photos of Kharlampy Yermakov, who became a prototype of the hero of the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don”, diaries of P.N.Kudinov, a sabre of V.M.Chernetsov, a Morse telegraph machine, cartridges homemade by the rebels, a machine gun “Maxim”, newspapers issued in the Don country in 1919, journals published by Cossack organizations abroad, and other unique objects.

The exhibition “…Brothers, Do not Judge Your Brother…” will run during March 11 – May 26, 2019, in Sholokhov-Centre of the National M.A.Sholokhov Museum-Reserve in: 125/69, Bolshaya Sadovaya Str., Rostov-on-Don.

Open hours: 10.00–17.00 (Wednesday and Friday 10.00–19.00).day off – Monday. Tel.: 210-90-14 (tour organization), 210-90-17 (cash-desk); e-mail: rostov@sholokhov.ru

The photo: A.V.Karbinov (website http://zsro.ru)