Novogrudok Museum of History and Regional Studies

The Museum was founded in 1987; the exhibition was opened in 1992. The history and culture of the town and region from the 10th century til the middle of the 20th century are presented in the nine halls of the museum: Novogrudok as the main town of the Belarusian Nieman Region, a center for uniting Belarusian and Lithuanian lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its first capital, the place of the coronation of Duke Mindovg; the history of the Jewish and Tatar communities of Novogrudok; Orthodox and Catholic temples, the synagogue and the mosque; famous town-dwellers who contributed to the science and culture of Belarus, Europe and the world; ethnography and also Novogrudok during Great Patriotic War. In 2007, the exhibition "Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust in Novogrudok" was opened on a separate site. It is the only Museum in Belarus founded on the site of the former ghetto which presents the history of the most successful escape in the Nazi-occupied Europe through a tunnel built by the prisoners, and also the history of the Jewish Bielski partisan group. The museum organizes conferences on the history of Novogrudok and on the theme of the Holocaust and carries out the project "Critical Consideration of History through the Dialog of Generations: Tell me Your Life". The annual number of visitors is over 9,000 people. The total number of storage units is more than 20,000. The most valuable are the private archives of the world-renowned scientist in the field of astronautics B. Kit and of the artist V. Stashchenyuk, a unique treasure of bronze bracelets from the excavations of the settlement of the 8th — 10th centuries on the Mount of Radogoshcha. The museum arranges lessons, thematic tours and lectures.