Brest HERstory is a documentary audio play about the women's history of Brest during World War II and a look at historical events through the prism of a woman.

Alina will present the project, will tell how it was created and show a multimedia presentation that supports the documentary play for those who can’t visit it in Brest.

Brest HERstory is a story about historical events through the fates and actions of women from Brest. The sources for the play were archival materials and photos, published texts and testimonies, diaries and interviews. The project consists of a series of audio performances, a city map with objects, information about the places, photographs and short biographies of the participants. The voices of the heroines were voiced by Brest residents from the local community.

The Brest HERstory play is thematically and chronologically divided into five parts.

The audio play includes the story of the Polish schoolgirl Halina Kierska and covers events in Brest from August 1939 to April 1940, events related to the deportations in 1939-1941, it also describes the participation of women in the events in the Brest Fortress (June 1941), tells about the organization and destruction of the Jewish ghetto in Brest (1941-1942), as well as about the Jewish women’s resistance. The last part covers the period from 1941 to the present days and tells about the women of the Brest communists, practices of care and survival, female Ostarbeiters, etc.

This project was created by a women 's team and proceeds from the fact that the past determines the present and the future. Brest HERstory tells a story neither of heroism nor great battles, but of selfless care and saving of children, girlfriends and other people, a story not of men's companions, but of the strong and independent individuals.

Using technology and art, the team makes the stories of invisible people visible.

moderator: Alina Dzeravianka - is an art manager, researcher and cultural worker from Brest, Belarus. She has expertise in the organization of socio-cultural events, historical research, cultural management and cultural heritage. For many years Alina worked as a director of Brest Fortress Development Fund, she is also a curator and member of art collective Zburazh art coop. Alina is a lecturer at the Cultural Heritage Development of European Humanities University (Vilnius, Lithuania).

meeting translated into Polish

interpreter of Marcin Turski

Photo: June 29, 1941. Brest Fortress. Photo by Hans Hartnack

Source: Private archive of Henning Hartnack