To mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II, the Leo Tolstoy Estate-Museum has released a film titled War Archive: Yasnaya Polyana, based on the museum’s unique archival documents.
The film tells the story of events in Yasnaya Polyana before and during the war, through original documents from the museum’s archive. At the heart of the narrative are the journals of museum curator Sergey Shchegolev and his sister Maria, a research associate. The film also includes the visitor registration book, a guestbook with entries from Red Army soldiers and German troops, and reports on the museum’s wartime operations.
“The Yasnaya Polyana archive holds hundreds and thousands of documents. Today, we focus on just a few of them. They date back to the 1940s and help us reconstruct the events of the war years,” says museum employee Elizaveta Piskareva in the film.
How did the museum function during wartime, and who visited it? How long was Yasnaya Polyana under occupation? How did the museum staff and local villagers survive the occupation? How soon after liberation was the museum restored? When did the items evacuated to Tomsk in 1941 return? These and other questions are answered using archival materials.
“Eighty thousand visitors during the war years. Soldiers heading to the front, shouting ‘For War and Peace—fire!’ Museum staff and villagers putting out a fire at Tolstoy’s house. All of them defended Leo Tolstoy’s estate, the country, and the very idea of humanity. Decades later, through these documents, they speak to us and remind us that love and peace are daily work,” emphasizes Elizaveta Piskareva.
The film includes archival photographs from the Yasnaya Polyana Museum and the State Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow.
The film tells the story of events in Yasnaya Polyana before and during the war, through original documents from the museum’s archive. At the heart of the narrative are the journals of museum curator Sergey Shchegolev and his sister Maria, a research associate. The film also includes the visitor registration book, a guestbook with entries from Red Army soldiers and German troops, and reports on the museum’s wartime operations.
“The Yasnaya Polyana archive holds hundreds and thousands of documents. Today, we focus on just a few of them. They date back to the 1940s and help us reconstruct the events of the war years,” says museum employee Elizaveta Piskareva in the film.
How did the museum function during wartime, and who visited it? How long was Yasnaya Polyana under occupation? How did the museum staff and local villagers survive the occupation? How soon after liberation was the museum restored? When did the items evacuated to Tomsk in 1941 return? These and other questions are answered using archival materials.
“Eighty thousand visitors during the war years. Soldiers heading to the front, shouting ‘For War and Peace—fire!’ Museum staff and villagers putting out a fire at Tolstoy’s house. All of them defended Leo Tolstoy’s estate, the country, and the very idea of humanity. Decades later, through these documents, they speak to us and remind us that love and peace are daily work,” emphasizes Elizaveta Piskareva.
The film includes archival photographs from the Yasnaya Polyana Museum and the State Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow.
Posted : 9 may 2025