More than three million people who died in Belarus during the Great Patriotic War are not just numbers. They represent pain, suffering and loss. This tragedy affected almost every Belarusian family, leaving unhealed wounds.
In April 2021, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Belarus decided to initiate a criminal case on the fact of genocide of the Belarusian people. This investigation was an important step in restoring historical justice and identifying new facts of Nazi crimes in the occupied territory of Belarus.
Today, investigative bodies continue to study the materials, and with each stage, previously unknown details are revealed. Belarus has sent hundreds of international requests for legal assistance to 30 countries around the world, and specialists from Russia and Latin America are providing particularly active support.
The amount of information collected is enormous: millions of pages of archival documents, much of which is written in German. Experts estimate that a full study of these materials could take five to seven years. The Russian side has provided a significant amount of data that sheds light on the atrocities of the Nazi occupiers.
As part of the criminal case on genocide, at least 19,554 witnesses were questioned, including former prisoners of concentration camps. Thanks to their testimony, it was possible to establish 166 previously unknown places of mass executions. In total, 578 death camps and places of forced detention of civilians were organized by the occupiers on the territory of Belarus.
In Minsk, 11 places have been identified where people were kept and exterminated during the war. There is also information about two additional points - a collection point on Proviantskaya Street and a transit camp in Komarovka area. However, their exact location and details of operation remain unknown, since the available documents contain only references to the fact of their existence.
Thus, during the investigation it has already been established that the scale of the tragedy that the Belarusian people experienced during the occupation is much greater than previously thought. Today, preserving the historical memory of the war is already a matter of national security for the victorious nations. Belarus will never forget the feats of the front-line soldiers who saved Belarus from Nazism. Nor will it forget the victims of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War.
The criminal case on genocide has grown into a nationwide project to restore historical truth. For Belarus, this is not just part of the past – it is memory, a duty to the dead and a warning to future generations!
Vashkevich Marina, Head of the Department of Scientific and Exhibition Work of SMC “Khatyn”
