The past is the birthplace
of the human soul …
Heinrich Heine
To the loving memory of my parents,
Tatyana Smolovik and Nikolay Gubenko,
and my beloved brothers Yevgeniy and Leonid
My drawings represent my personal memories, memories of my relatives, friends, acquaintances, witnesses who were involved in the events that were taking place in the city. Even though these memories reflect only a small part of the history of the city, it is important for new generations of the residents of Brest to be aware of them as they help to better understand the history of the city and the flavour of the time depicted in my drawings.
Personally, I do not see drawings just as graphic records of my friends’ memories but rather as continuing conversation with them. Unfortunately, most of them are now gone. But they remained my living companions in my drawings.
I have kept their names in my memory and they continue to live on with me: Leonid Anfinogenov, Viktor Bovsh, Yevgeniy Borzdun, Vasiliy Vashchuk, Sergey Vitorskiy, Vadim Vorobyov, Vadim Gaikov, Vadim Godulenkov, Viktor Gomenyuk, Mikhail Korza, Igor Demyanenko, Aleksandr Kirchuk, Vladimir Moshchuk, Yaroslav and Igor Novakovskiy, Nikolay Rybakov, Georgiy Svorchuk, Aleksandr Tolok, Nikolay Tishuk, Ivan Tsarenkov, Vasiliy Shchekolodkin, Yevgeniy Letun, his parents — Nikolay Demyanovich, Mariya Ignatyevna, who inspired me in my work.
Thank you, my dear co-authors, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Vladimir Gubenko
Vladimir Gubenko (1932–2022) — a physicist by education, an engineer by profession, a historian and artist by calling. Since the early 2000s, his name became widely known through numerous exhibitions held in museums and cultural centers, as well as through the publication of his memoirs in the press. His hundreds of pencil drawings, created with remarkable precision and warmth of an eyewitness, captured the historical events, architectural landscape, and everyday life of Brest during the 1930s–1960s. These works became more than mere illustrations — they turned into living documents of an era, to which journalists and local historians still turn today in their quest to convey the spirit of a bygone time. Vladimir Gubenko was a true guardian of the city’s memory, which he loved wholeheartedly, studied carefully, and immortalized through his art. His unique memory and talent resembled a sensitive film, capable of preserving the finest details of a disappearing life. For nearly eight decades he lived in Brest, and every one of his drawings is an act of love and devotion to his native city, a gift to future generations, and a testament to the enduring value of human memory.
