"Dalva" is a memorial architectural and sculptural complex in memory of the residents of Dalva village. It is located at the 77th kilometer of Minsk-Vitebsk highway, on the site of the former village Dalva in Logoisk (formerly Pleshchenitsy) District, Minsk Region. On June 19, 1944, the village was burned down along with its inhabitants. 44 people perished in the fire, including 29 children, 13 women, and 2 men.
In 1955, a monument was erected at the site of a mass grave containing the remains of the former village's residents. In 1963, it was replaced with an obelisk bearing a five-pointed star. In 1972, Belarusian State Theatre and Art Institute announced a competition for the best design for a monument to Dalva village. The winner was Vladimir Terebun, a third-year student in the sculpture department of the Art Department and a student of People's Artist of Belarus, sculptor A. Bembel. The project became his diploma work.
Dalva Memorial was built on a voluntary basis, with funds raised from concerts by Belarusian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company's creative groups, military personnel, and donations from public organizations. The initiator of this project was Nikolai Girilovich, the only surviving witness to the tragedy in Dalva village, who dedicated his entire life to preserving the memory of his fellow villagers.
Opened on July 15, 1973, the complex replicates the layout of the former village Dalva. The memorial's composition consists of individual elements, freely arranged in space, and covers an area of 5 hectares.
In 2009, a new exhibition, "Dalva: Heroism, Tragedy, Mercy," was created on the memorial grounds. It features archival photographs and documents that tell the story of the village beginning in the late 17th century.
Memorial complex “Dalva” is included in the state list of historical and cultural values of the Republic of Belarus.
«...Years passed... After serving in the Soviet Army in autumn 1954, I returned to my native places.
... My dear, beloved village! It is forever inscribed in my passport, in my heart. And even though I haven't seen you, heard you, or spoken to you, my family, or my fellow villagers, for a long time, my heart hasn't hardened in the least toward my beloved corner of earth. In my mind's eye, I cast a glance back at that still-living Dalva. I see twelve houses standing on either side of a narrow, sandy street. Those houses are gone... Where they once stood are the ashes of burned-out houses, charred and half-destroyed chimneys amidst thickets of thorny briars and weeds.
With flowers in my hands, I walk to the mass grave and find a scene of destruction and desolation. One of the wooden crosses has collapsed, and the wooden fence itself has sagged and fallen into disrepair.
Urgent action was needed, so I headed to Prusevichi Village Council, located three kilometers from Dalva. There, I was met by a very lively, energetic middle-aged man. "Viltovsky," he introduced himself, "Ivan Antonovich." We quickly struck up a conversation. He listened attentively and promised to help. We agreed to erect an iron fence and a headstone.
By next June, an iron fence and a concrete headstone with the inscription, "The remains of Dalva people are buried here," were ready. Students from Prusevichi Seven-Year School took charge of the mass grave.
In autumn, my wife, daughter, and I came to lay flowers at the grave of the Dalvinians. Walking along the former street of the former Dalva, we heard the rumble of a tractor. We approached closer and looked in disbelief: a young tractor driver, as if nothing had happened, was plowing the vegetable gardens and the street at the same time. No one had ever dared to do this—the street had been preserved as a monument.
... I wrote a short article about my native village and this incident, which was published in the newspaper "Sovetskaya Belorussiya" under the title "Let It Remind..." Only then was this blasphemous work stopped. I received a letter from the director and party organizer of the "Iskra" state farm, apologizing for what had happened and asking me to restore the last names, first names, patronymics, and ages of the burned Dalva residents and send a list. They decided to erect an obelisk at the burial site of the Dalva residents. I willingly complied with their request.
The obelisk was erected in 1963. At the top is a five-pointed star, and below it is the inscription: "Posterity will not forget you." Below it are the names of the 44 people burned alive. Below that is the inscription: "To the residents of Dalva village, burned by the Nazis in June 1944."
The years passed... The terrible wounds of war gradually healed. The villages of Logoisk land rose from the ashes. Lilacs bloomed in place of the wormwood, new log cabins rose, songs and children's voices rang out in the houses. And then I thought that the best of monuments is when a new village rises in place of a burned one.
But in January 1966, a government announcement appeared in the press about the decision to create the memorial complex “Khatyn” in memory of hundreds of Belarusian villages destroyed by the Nazi occupiers.
... At the same time, a commission was created to collect information about the burned villages of Belarus. I was invited to visit the sites of the tragedy, including my home village.
On June 30, 1969, delegations from village councils across the republic gathered in the square in front of the Khatyn memorial. Some held capsules made by workers at Minsk Tractor Plant, others held boxes, and some held small houses—replicas of those that remained only in memory....
... Next, representatives of 185 delegations from all corners of our Belarus walked along the memorial to another part of it—the village cemetery. The sign reads: "Khatyn is not alone; 186 villages, along with their people, burned to the ground on our Belarusian land." Young people stand as a mourning guard at each memorial sign. Each delegation pauses before its village. I stop in front of Dalva.
The mournful melody faded. Ivan Klimov opened the meeting. I listened to Ivan Klimov and asked myself: what can I do to perpetuate the memory of my native village? And as I left Khatyn, I firmly resolved: the tragedy of Dalva must not be forgotten, especially since Dalva was the last Belarusian village destroyed by the Nazis.
The idea to perpetuate the memory of the fallen arose at a youth meeting of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of the BSSR. This idea was supported by teachers and students of the Okolovo Secondary School in Logoisk District, Minsk Region, near where Dalva once stood, as well as Logoisk District Komsomol Committee and Minsk Regional Komsomol Committee. State Television and Radio Broadcasting companies performed concerts, while the schoolchildren worked on a collective and state farm, collecting gifts from nature, with the proceeds going to a special account of Logoisk District Komsomol Committee.
Pioneers and Komsomol members from Volga region, far from Belarus, also contributed—students from the Rivne school, Saratov region (they visited Okolovo school and the site of Dalva in 1971). School No. 22 in Minsk also participated in the fundraising.
By decision of Logoisk District Executive Committee, part of the money was transferred to the district's collective farms.
Belarusian State Theatre and Art Institute announced a competition for the best design for a monument to Dalva. The winner was Vladimir Terebun, a third-year student in the sculpture department of the Art Faculty and a student of folk sculptor Andrei Bembel.
In creating the memorial complex “Dalva”, the young sculptor was assisted by employees of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of the BSSR, schoolchildren from Okolovo (Anatoly Yankovsky worked especially hard), activists of Logoisk District Komsomol Committee, employees of the local Iskra state farm, and soldiers from Pleshchenitsy garrison.
... For the creation and construction of this memorial complex, sculptor Vladimir Terebun was awarded Lenin Komsomol Prize of Belarus.
The opening ceremony of the memorial complex, built on the site of the burned village, took place on July 15, 1973. Former soldiers and partisans, residents of nearby and distant villages, schoolchildren and soldiers of the Pleshchenitsy garrison, and relatives of Dalva residents came and attended the opening. Many spoke and reminisced about the war....
...And I stood there and thought: may none of you ever have to experience what everyone who was born 40 or 50 years ago experienced. May none of you ever know what war is! Tears choked my throat. In the people standing facing the monument, I suddenly saw my mother, father, brothers, grandfather, Aunt Anna, Aunt Zinaida, Grandma Kastusya... I saw everyone I knew and whom the Nazis burned..."
