The gifts will be exhibited in the Hall of Military Remembrance of RSUH, following the ceremony at which Mr. Cruz was awarded the Russian medal “Remembrance of the Motherland’s Heroes”, presented to him by Mr. Koronelli, Ambassador of Russia in Mexico.
Eduardo Cruz works as part of a team from the volunteer organization “Eternal Flame”, which returns WWII military decorations to their rightful owners. Medals and orders are sought out at fleamarkets and auctions, bought and then returned to the people they had been awarded to.
Mr. Koronelli said that the medal of the Ministry of Defense was the least the State could do to express gratitude for such selfless acts.
Sixteen WWII decorations have already been restored to their families and museums.
Mr. Cruz said that the hardest part was not finding the medals but finding the owners, which made it necessary to do archival research and appeal to experts. RSUH is helping the organization in this regard as our School of Archives, on the basis of which RSUH was founded, is the oldest and in fact the only school of this kind, both in Russia and abroad.
Dr. Yershova, Head of Knorozov Center, read the congratulatory letter by Rector Bezborodov, which said that it was an honor for RSUH to be cooperating with Eduardo Cruz Mercado and that currently the Hall of Military Remembrance was being established within the Knorozov Center. It is in this Hall that Mr. Mercado’s gift of forty military decorations will be displayed.
