On November 8, 1945, after a four-year hiatus, the Hermitage Museum was opened.
All 69 exhibition halls, where masterpieces of world painting and art that returned safely from the evacuation to Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) were once again in the public domain.
In the first weeks of the war, in the summer of 1941, the museum workers made an amazing achievement - they packed and sent over a million valuable exhibits by two flights to Ural. There was no time to send the third tier, as the blocking ring was closed. The remaining workers lived in the basements of the museum, saved buildings from incendiary bombs, conducted research work and even gave scientific lectures. The Hermitage buildings were severely damaged by direct hits from shells and aerial bombs.
Immediately after the end of the war, in August 1945, all the exhibits that were evacuated from the Hermitage returned to Leningrad. Thanks to the work of restorers, builders and museum staff, within a few months it was possible to restore some of the halls and prepare the first exhibition after the war. This event became a true symbol of the revival of the cultural life of Leningrad and the entire country after the severe siege and destruction.
@ "Post-Soviet secular" comes from childhood!