1. Photo Attribution and Location on the Map of Minsk

In Ilya Kurkov's landmark historical photographic album "Unknown Minsk 1920–1940", illustration number 225 presents a rare perspective of the pre-war Belarusian capital with the following dual-language caption:

"225. Школа на Савецкай вуліцы. Цяпер сярэдняя школа № 23. 1940 г. / School on Savetskaya Street. Now, it is secondary school № 23, 1940".

The building shown in the photograph is an unmistakable landmark of central Minsk: it is today's Gymnasium No. 23 of Minsk, located at 45 Independence Avenue.

In 1940, the grand post-war neoclassical boulevard that defines modern Minsk did not yet exist. The central road corridor connecting downtown Minsk past Zolotaya Gorka toward the Komarovka marketplace and the Borisov Highway was officially designated as Savetskaya (Sovetskaya) Street. During the 1930s, older wooden residential homes along this artery were progressively replaced by substantial brick public institutions — manufacturing facilities, scientific institutes, and modern multi-story schools.

2. Architecture of the Building: Standard Design CBSP No. 12156 (1936)

The school opened its doors in 1936 as part of an ambitious interwar construction campaign launched by the People's Commissariat of Education (Narkompros) of the BSSR to accommodate the rapidly growing school-age population of Minsk.

Architectural records indicate that the structure was erected according to the nationwide standard design CBSP No. 12156 (Central Bureau of School Planning), designed for 880 to 1,000 students:

• Unplastered Red-Brick Masonry: The 1940 photograph shows the building with its original exterior of exposed red clay brickwork. Facing acute deadlines to open new classrooms prior to the war, plastering was frequently postponed to later phases. This raw brick finish lent the facade a distinctive structural rhythm and texture.
• Entrance Portico and Terrace: The main entrance features a projecting brick vestibule with twin double doors and a wide flight of granite steps. The flat roof of this entrance vestibule functions as an open second-floor balcony-terrace enclosed by a metal balustrade anchored to sturdy brick piers.
• Daylight Fenestration: The second, third, and fourth floors feature expansive three-section casement windows with upper transoms, designed to maximize daylight penetration in strict adherence to 1930s school hygiene regulations.
• Cornice Embellishment: The top of the four-story brick volume is crowned by a stepped decorative cornice featuring rectangular dentils and square ventilation louvers for the attic level.

A year earlier, in 1935, Minsk Secondary School No. 3 on 3rd Zheleznodorozhny Lane was erected based on this identical standard design.

3. Origins: From Talmud Torah to Factory Seven-Year School (1919–1936)

The institutional genealogy of the school reaches back into the pre-revolutionary era:

• Late 19th Century – 1919: The school traces its origins to a Talmud Torah (traditional Jewish school) operating at 9 Nemigo-Rakovskaya Street. In 1917, it became the 46th Lower Primary School, and in 1919 was reorganized into the 46th Soviet Labor Jewish First-Grade School (360 pupils across 9 classes, 10 teachers, headed by Boris Alexandrovich Schneider, born 1857).
• 1922 and the Assignment of Number 23: By order of the Minsk City Executive Committee dated September 6, 1922, the school was designated as the 23rd Jewish School from September 1, 1922, and transferred to 11 Krasnoarmeyskaya Street. All 135 pupils (67 boys and 68 girls) were orphanage wards, with instruction conducted in Yiddish. Classes commenced on October 15, 1922, under principal E. A. Podnos.
• Faculty of the 1920s: The early teaching staff included B. A. Goldenberg (natural sciences and geography), Danziger (physical education instructor), Yankel Rubin, R. A. Gininsky (arithmetic), Kruger (drawing), and Kh. I. Chertova (Russian and Yiddish). G. M. Rudelson was appointed principal in 1928, and Umberovich joined as military training instructor in 1929.
• Savetskaya Street and Polytechnic Reorganization: According to the 1930 Minsk City Directory, School No. 23 was situated at 126 Savetskaya Street. In 1931, it received the designation "Minsk Polytechnic Factory Seven-Year School No. 23" (FZS), actively implementing progressive project-based learning methods highlighted in pedagogical periodicals.

4. The Savetskaya Street Building and the Military Pilot School (1936–1941)

In 1936, the school relocated to the newly erected four-story brick facility on Savetskaya Street, transforming into a complete ten-year secondary institution.

The 1940 photograph captures a critical transitional chapter:

• Military Flight Training School: Beginning in 1940, the facility hosted a military pilot preparatory school. During the initial days of the Nazi invasion in late June 1941, flight cadets took up arms and actively defended the city of Minsk. Surviving veteran aviators maintained lifelong ties with the school, helping pupils establish a museum of Military Glory that operated into the mid-1980s.
• Entrance Signboard: Mounted to the left of the doorway is the enameled Soviet plaque displaying the state emblem of the BSSR and the inscription: "СРСШ № 23" (Soviet Russian Secondary School No. 23).
• Schoolyard Atmosphere: The unpaved sandy courtyard shows female teachers descending the granite steps, playful boys running across the grounds, and older youths conversing near the right corner of the facade.

5. Wartime Ordeal: Hospital and Building Preservation (1941–1944)

In June 1941, intense Luftwaffe bombardments set the surrounding wooden neighborhoods of Komarovka and Zolotaya Gorka ablaze. However, the resilient brick construction of School No. 23 survived largely undamaged.

Throughout the Nazi occupation (1941–1944), the German military requisitioned the school complex to house a military field hospital. Because of its sturdy structural integrity, the building retained its load-bearing walls and reinforced floors through the war, enabling rapid post-liberation educational revival.

6. Post-War Struggles and the All-Girls School (1944–1955)

Following the liberation of Minsk on July 3, 1944, restoration began through the volunteer labor of incoming pupils and their parents.

Declassified municipal inspection records document the severe post-war environment:

• Health Inspector Report (July 24, 1945): City health inspector Dr. Livshits reported catastrophic sanitary conditions: the school lacked central heating, single-glazed windows were boarded up with plywood, and temporary iron potbelly stoves provided uneven warmth. Lacking running water and functioning plumbing, students sat in heavy winter coats, combating outbreaks of typhus, scarlet fever, and whooping cough.
• Four Shifts and Cohabitation with School No. 19: During 1944/1945, the building accommodated its own students plus classes from the destroyed School No. 19 — totaling 47 classes crammed into 30 rooms across 4 daily shifts until repairs on School No. 19 concluded in September 1946.
• Hospital Sponsorship: Pupils adopted Hospital No. 432, weeding a 1-hectare vegetable plot, sorting 10 tons of potatoes, laundering linens, and writing letters home for wounded soldiers.
• Honored Educators: Principal Georgy Nikitovich Leonov was recognized among Minsk's finest school directors, receiving the Order of the Badge of Honor in 1948. Mathematics teacher Moisei Berkovich Golub was named Honored Teacher of the BSSR and decorated with the Order of Lenin. Teacher Tsilya Arkadyevna Ioseleva received the Excellence in Public Education badge, and Lina Grigoryevna Margolina was awarded the Medal for Labor Valor.
• All-Girls School and Belarusian Instruction: On October 16, 1946, the school became the 23rd Girls' Secondary School (by 1949/1950, enrolling 1,228 girls across 33 classes at 185 Savetskaya Street). Instruction was conducted in Belarusian, alongside Russian, French, and German language courses. The first post-war graduating class finished in 1952 (15 graduates, with silver medals awarded to Valentina Pasynkova and Raisa Zorina).
• Facade Plastering: During the early 1950s, the raw brick exterior was smoothly plastered and finished in neoclassical tones, integrating seamlessly into Stalin Avenue (now Independence Avenue).

7. Polytechnic Expansion and Computer Plant Sponsorship (1955–1980s)

In 1955, co-education was restored, welcoming boys back to the classrooms.

During the rise of Minsk's electronics industry, School No. 23 developed close ties with high-tech manufacturing:

• Ordzhonikidze Computer Factory Sponsorship: In 1959, the school transitioned to Russian-language instruction and was adopted by the adjacent Minsk Ordzhonikidze Electronic Computer Factory (MPO VT / MZVM).
• Vocational Production Training: Starting in 1960/1961, high school students completed weekly polytechnic apprenticeships directly on the computer plant's assembly floors, qualifying as coil winders, mechanics, and precision electronic equipment technicians.

8. Revival: Gymnasium No. 23 with Belarusian Instruction

From the late 1980s, School No. 23 spearheaded the renaissance of Belarusian-language education in Minsk. On June 18, 2002, the municipal government officially granted the school the status of Gymnasium No. 23 of Minsk with Belarusian as the Language of Instruction.

Today, the gymnasium is one of the premier humanities schools in Belarus:

• Instruction is conducted entirely in Belarusian, with advanced curricula in Chinese (in close collaboration with the Confucius Institute) and English.
• The gymnasium houses the Museum of the History of the Sovetsky District of Minsk.
• The building at 45 Independence Avenue preserves its 1936 architectural profile as an authentic monument to interwar Minsk urbanism.

9. Historical Sources and Archival References

1. Kurkov I. N. Unknown Minsk 1920–1940. — Minsk: "Uradzhay", 2002. — Illustration 225.
2. Archival Records of Gymnasium No. 23 with Belarusian Instruction: Historical chronicle of the institution (1919–2026).
3. "PhotoBuildings / DomoFoto" Architectural Database: Building Profile Minsk, 45 Independence Avenue (Standard design CBSP No. 12156, built 1936).
4. Minsk City Education Department Records (1922–1948): Municipal decree of Sept 6, 1922; health inspection report by Dr. Livshits of July 24, 1945; annual reports 1945–1948.
5. Lysenko A. V. The Main Street of Minsk: Architectural and Historical Essay. — Minsk: "Belarus", 1963.
6. Shamruk A. S. Architecture of Belarus in the Soviet Period. — Minsk: "Belaruskaya Navuka", 2014.