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Ostrava – the third largest city in the Czech Republic – has been Volgograd's twin-city since 1948. Our cities were brought together by the military past: Marshal Eremenko was in charge of the Morava-Ostrava offensive aimed to liberate Ostrava and the whole metallurgic heart of the country from the Nazi invaders.

The "Ostrava Russian House" and the "Czech-Russian Society" have numerous friends in the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia. The concert that they recorded on this occasion has once again featured the virtuoso musicians and singers whom one remembers from the previous concert dedicated to the Day of the National Unity.

Among the concert's participants, one can cite:

- the Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Ostrava Mr. Aleš Zedník who opened the event with a song about the Mamay Hill memorial in Volgograd;

- a string virtuoso Larisa Adamov with several instrumental compositions;

- Igor Jelinek with guitar songs dating back to the various periods of the 20^th century and the multifaceted musician Stanislav Mariтchenko who accompanied him with a synthesizer, a guitar and an accordion;

- Sergey Zubkevich with the most popular wartime songs of the USSR;

- Kseniya Evsina with a pilot's lyrical ballad;

- Aleksandra Volkmerova with a heartbreaking story of a New Year eve in the besieged Leningrad;

- musician and composer Liya Ermiyaeva with her little students.

The introductory address in the Czech language was presented by Dr. Karel Šestak, an afterword in the Russian language – by the incumbent Chair of the Ostrava Russian House Ms. Anna Stukhlikova, and her predecessor and Deputy Mrs. Tamara Galynina spoke about her childhood memories scorched by war:

"The 22^nd of June was my mum's birthday, but the teary-eyed mother and grandmother said there would be no guests because the war had started. (…) My granny and I managed to evacuate and lived in Leninsk until 1943. (…) After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, we returned home to find nothing but a black scorched ground in the place of your house, with the "legs" of my granny's sewing machine sticking from the rubble."

Although Tamara was only 6 at that time, she, like all children, understood perfectly what was happening – especially after two her friends died in an explosion caused by one of the deadly decoy toys disseminated by the Nazi soldiers.

The memory about all Stalingrad and Leningrad residents and defenders who perished during the war is the fuel behind the songs of the concert that can be viewed in its entirety at the following link:

https://youtu.be/nDlI5_-dPNI