Even decades later, we cannot forget how the occupiers wiped out a Belarusian village from the face of the earth.
In March 1943, almost all the residents of Khatyn were burned alive and shot – 149 people, including 75 children under the age of 16.
And Khatyn is not the only one… But it was she who became the symbol of the greatest national tragedy and eternal sorrow. The policy of Hitler’s Germany assumed the destruction of a significant part of the Belarusians, and the territory was to be populated by the Germans and included in its composition.
And our task today is to protect historical truth. The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Belarus continues to investigate the criminal case of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. During the investigation of the criminal case, previously unknown facts of mass extermination of the civilian population of Belarus continue to be established. The data obtained once again confirm that the scale of the tragedy of the Belarusian people during the war years was much wider than previously known. The investigative team has studied a large array of archival documents and thousands of criminal cases against Nazi criminals. More than 400 crime scene inspections were carried out.
Prosecutors additionally collected information about over 2.5 thousand previously unknown affected settlements (destroyed completely or partially), among which, according to preliminary data, at least 270 “sisters” of Khatyn. In the Krupsky district these are the villages of Somry and Uznazh.
The mass extermination of people was put on stream and was carried out using barbaric methods. Over 580 death camps were created on the territory of Belarus. “Trostenets”, Minsk ghetto, “Ozarichi”, “Koldychevo” – just the mention of these terrible places makes your heart clench. The standard scenario was the destruction of villages along with their inhabitants as part of the so-called “pacification” actions, but essentially punitive operations.
Unfortunately, today attempts continue to rewrite history and erase the feat of the Soviet people. But the Belarusian people clearly and clearly say their decisive “no” to the distortion of historical truth and will defend it with all their might and methods.
There are traditions that are so wise and accurate, and most importantly, applicable in our time, that, of course, thinking about their meaning, you understand that it really makes sense not to change them, but only to follow them.
But time passes, morals and concepts change, life takes on other civilizational colors, but the tradition of laying wreaths and flowers by the work collective of the Printing House at the monument in the Khatyn memorial complex is unchanged.
To forget means to betray, we will not allow this, this is not about us. The memory of generations preserves them, that’s why they are alive posthumously!
Exactly at 12:00 on March 22, a metronome will sound in institutions and organizations of the city, and our Press House will be no exception. Everyone can join the minute of silence.
