In the evening of June 22, 1941, Germany attacked Russia. For most of the ensuing war North Sakhalin was a distant front, but local people were working hard. The collection shows a model of the oil pipeline from Okha to Sofiskoye-on-Amur, built during the cold winter of 1941-1942. It was of great importance in supplying the Far East and Eastern Siberia with fuel. Photos and documents of the collection (like those of G.T.Podshivailov, N.T.Volkov, I.K.Krasyukov, and F.l.llyin) show the hard toil of Sakhalin oilmen, miners, and fishermen. One of the photos shows a women's brigade in the oilfield. The women took the working places of men. In the show-case there is a photo and documents of one of them - Kseniya Semenovna Borodina, who was a field-crop brigade-leader in the collective "Krasnaya Tym" and whose five sons and husband were at the front.

Continuing, there is a collection devoted to Sakhalin people who were fighting actively. It has documents, personal items, and letters from front-line soldiers, among them N.D.Grishchenko, M.R.Hasanshin, and S.E.Valenteev. Fighting against the enemy with fortitude, Sakhalin people contributed to victory. The last photo of the collection shows a victory rally in Aleksandrovsk on May 9, 1945.

In August 1945 Sakhalin changed from a remote home front into an area of military operations, when Soviet troops crossed the border and landed in southern ports. The photos and documents at the beginning of the display record the Teheran (1943) and Yalta conferences, where the USSR committed itself to the war against Japan. Though the major events took place in Manchuria, the South Sakhalin and Kurile military operations were of considerable importance. The display shows the main directions of the Soviet Army's attacks. Near it are portraits of S.T.Yudin, G.G.Svetetskii, P.N.Sidorov, L.V.Sminnykh and A.E.BuyukIy, who were made Heroes of the Soviet Union, the last two, posthumously. Photos and documents describe naval attacks on the Japanese ports of Esutoro, Maoka, and Otomari, and the bloody battles there. Further on are personal items and documents of Lieutenant-Colonel D.T.Serdyuk and of M.G.Dodonov, participants in the battles. On August 25 the fighting in Sakhalin came to an end, and the territory that had been lost in 1905 was regained by Russia.

The display continues with material about the Kurile landing operation, which took a special place in the actions of the Soviet Army in the Far East. The collection has plans of the operations, and both Soviet and captured arms. Japan had numerous garrisons in the Kuriles. On August 18, Soviet forces landed on the heavily-defended island of Shumshu. During heavy fighting over the next five days the outnumbered Soviet soldiers showed great bravery.

Photos depict sailors N.A.Vilkov and P.l.llyichev, leader of the advanced detachment Major P.I.Shutov, Master Sergeant V.I.Sigov, and many others. On August 23 the Japanese opposition was broken. The garrisons of the other islands surrendered without resistance. By September I all the territory of the future Sakhalin region was dislodged from the enemy. The display is completed with a photo of the signing of the surrender document on board the American battleship "Missouri" on September 2, 1945. Thus ended the Second World War.