Enthusiasts Digitized All Minsk Cemeteries

The idea for pomnim.by, which Konstantin Nachatkin and Yevgeny Nosov are currently working on, emerged about seven years ago, writes Onliner.by.

At that time, Konstantin worked in the funeral business and encountered an unusual request from clients: people wanted the memory of their loved ones to be immortalized online with the exact location of the burial indicated. This would allow relatives and friends of the deceased to find the grave without unnecessary effort.

— After all, after the end of the Great Patriotic War, many families migrated, but a large number of their relatives' burials remained on the territory of Belarus. That's why I created the "We Remember" project so that people could find the graves of their relatives, — recalls Konstantin Nachatkin.

— At that time, internet users could independently add burial sites to the website with information about the deceased. They took photos, coordinates were linked to them, and thus the data entered the database. It was a socially oriented project, and all of it was absolutely free.

For the first 3-4 years, it lived its own life. During this time, about 2,000 burial sites were added to the website. But soon I realized that the project was developing slowly. And for it to work more intensively, it was decided to invest a certain amount in it, modernize the system itself, and hire people who would independently walk through cemeteries and photograph graves. At the same time, if you wish, you can add all the necessary information about the deceased yourself. To do this, you simply need to register on the site and add it there.

Павялічыць

How does it work? A project employee photographs a grave, all necessary information is read with the help of artificial intelligence, after which it is added to the required database. If earlier the error in determining the location of a grave could reach 15 meters, now, as assured by "We Remember", the coordinates are indicated with maximum accuracy.

— It takes a specialist 20 seconds to digitize one grave. In a day, they can enter between 200 and a thousand locations into the database, depending on the cemetery and weather conditions. We cannot work in the rain, as inscriptions on monuments are not visible, nor in the cold, as hands quickly freeze, — says Konstantin. — At the moment, we have digitized 95 percent of Minsk's burials, 25 percent of the Minsk region, and partially other cities of Belarus. In addition, we have entered almost all mass graves from the war period, as well as the locations of all cemeteries in Belarus. In total, there is information on 620,000 deceased, but this year we plan to continue developing, reach a million, and expand to other regions of the country.

Our resource is visited by up to 500,000 people per year. And this is despite the fact that we don't advertise at all.

— You publish photos of graves on the website. Is this allowed by law, and have your employees working in cemeteries not had any problems?

— No. Cemeteries are public places, and no problems have arisen with that. In addition, we consulted with the Ministry of Housing and Utilities (ZhKKh), and they confirmed that photography is allowed.

Павялічыць

"To get information about a burial, you have to pay 150 rubles. We believe this is a small amount"

The website itself consists of several sections. The core is a database containing information about the deceased. However, you can't just get it for free. The function is paid.

— Unfortunately, you won't get far on altruism alone. We tried to do it with our own resources, but we realized it was unsuccessful. For the project to exist on a free basis, investments are needed. But only a few are willing to invest money in it. Therefore, we made it a 90 percent commercial project, as people need to be paid for collecting information. All the money we earn goes towards digitization. To get detailed information about a burial with its location, you will have to pay 150 rubles. After that, exact coordinates and a set of photographs become available. But if you have entered all the details and an image of the grave yourself, then your relatives and friends will be able to see the necessary information completely free of charge. In addition, you can find information about cemeteries, addresses, phone numbers, and operating hours without payment.

We believe that we offer our services at fairly adequate prices. This applies to both burial information and cleaning services. After all, many have moved away, live abroad, are elderly, and cannot visit graves. But we can tidy up there and clean the monument.

— I'm sure readers might write that 150 rubles is not cheap.

— I'll answer this way: if you hire a specialist to search for information for you, you'll pay an order of magnitude more. A significant sum has been invested in the project. The digitization of Minsk cemeteries alone cost us about 80 thousand dollars. The project is expensive, and against this background, 150 rubles seems like a minimal fee.

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