Summer student school in Kalevala

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The school participants

On August, 11–16, within our project the summer field school was organized in Kalevala district. The participants were the Petrozavodsk State University students. The event was organized by the Karelian Research Centre of RAS together with the Republican Centre for State Protection of Objects of Cultural Heritage.

The intense educational program was elaborated for the students: the acquaintance with the Kalevala district included visits to Museum of runopevtsy, Ethnocultural centre «Kalevalatalo», villages of Voknavolok and Haikola. Here the participants learned about the main stages of local villages’ historical development, Karelian customs and traditions, formation peculiarities of the local Karelian language dialect and how the life in the area changed after the military events.

Moreover, the students helped with the accomplishment of the territory around the memorial sites at the Kis-Kis, wherein the war years the 54th rifle division defence line was held and where the divisional cemetery where were buried more than 900 soldiers and partisans fell during the War. It is important to note that within our project, the territory of the monument (4 hectares) was cleared and checked for the explosive objects at a depth of up to 6 meters.

The school was finalized with an interactive program organized by the Petrozavodsk historical reconstruction club «Styag». At the exhibition, prepared by the «Styag», it was possible to see weapons used at various stages of military events, soldiers’ uniforms and learn how the life of a simple soldier was organized during the War years.