"Maestros on the Front Line": The Great Patriotic War Through Eyes of Slavianski Bazaar Artists
The international festival “Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk” began its story in 1988. That year, builders handed over the symbolic key to the Summer Amphitheater to its famous fellow countryman — the legendary composer Mark Fradkin. His songs had supported soldiers at the front and shown the world the unbreakable spirit of the Soviet fighter.
“He didn’t talk much about the war,” recalls his grandson Anton Fradkin. “He was very reserved. I know several personal stories that were never meant for the press. He wrote his war songs years and even decades later. He was a true patriot in the classic sense of the word.”
For Mark Fradkin, the theme of war was deeply personal. His native Vitebsk lay in ruins after the occupation. By the time the city was liberated, only 118 people remained. The composer’s own home had been destroyed by the Nazis. To mark the centenary of his birth, the festival held a special concert titled “I Have Returned to My Homeland.” The six-thousand-seat hall rose to its feet in applause.
“It was a truly worthy and large-scale event,” says Anton Fradkin. “The hall was full. I saw how people knew these songs, how they rejoiced in them and sang along.”
Lyudmila Zykina’s childhood was far from easy. The war forced her to grow up quickly. To help her family, she added a few years to her age so she could work at a machine-building plant. She also performed for wounded soldiers in hospitals.
The war hardened her character. On stage she carried herself with dignity, yet remained simple and close to the people. Nikolai Pashinsky, who served as head of the Vitebsk Region Culture Department from 1990 to 2011, remembers one of her visits. He suggested taking Zykina not only to the regional center but also to the Dubrovno district — a place that had suffered greatly during the occupation.
“I approached her together with Rodion Mikhailovich and said that Dubrovno was a heroic district. She was deeply moved. She immediately included patriotic songs in her program. She was very down-to-earth — she praised our local dishes. She loved to cook herself and even took a small stove with her on tours,” Pashinsky recalls.
Among Lyudmila Zykina’s many awards is the “Cornflower” — the honorary prize of the “Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk,” given for her contribution to the festival. It has been awarded only three times in history.
Composer Alexander Zatsepin, whose name is closely tied to the brightest moments of the festival, was still a boy when the war began. Like many of his classmates, he dreamed of reaching the front.
“I was in a marching company. We were supposed to be sent to the front, but several of us, including me, were sent to infantry officer school instead,” Zatsepin remembers. “When the war ended, they called us out into the street and shouted that it was over. Everyone stood in silence. We felt saddened — as if we hadn’t been able to help, as if we had sat it out in the shadows.”
Gleb Lapitsky, Director of the International Festival of Arts “Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk,” puts it this way:
“The songs and music that once supported the soldiers… We are fortunate to still have the eyewitnesses and creators of that music with us. They may not have all fought with rifles in their hands, but they possessed a great power. It gave the soldiers the strength to stand up and go into battle — because at home their mothers and daughters were waiting for them.”
For thirty-five years now, the “Slavianski Bazaar” has sounded loud and clear. Those who take the stage do more than perform. Through music and art, they continue to call for peace and mutual understanding — the most important values that remain after all wars.