The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus presents a book of documents The Wall of Memory in Khatyn
On 18 March 2016 the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus hosted a presentation of the book of documents The Wall of Memory in Khatyn.
The presentation took place on the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy that took place in the village of Khatyn on 22 March 1943. The book tells about 66 places of mass executions of civilians and military servicemen commemorated on the Wall of Memory at the Katyn Memorial.
The book includes 134 documents available from the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, the Central Archives of the Committee for State Security of the Republic of Belarus, the State Archives of Brest Region, the State Archives of Gomel Region, the Yad Vashem National Memorial (Jerusalem), the Regional Museum in Borisov. The book features reports and certificates issued by the regional, district and town commissions of the Extraordinary State Committee, transcripts of interrogation of eyewitnesses, victims and hangmen, reminiscences etc. The book is illustrated with photographs of the Khatyn State Memorial Complex and the monuments erected in the places of the tragedy commemorated on the Wall of Memory.
The event was opened by V.I. Kourash, Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus. A welcome speech was delivered by V.I. Adamushko, Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry. V.D. Selemenev, head of the author’s group, chief archivist at the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus reported about the work done for the preparation of the book.
Among the participants and speakers at the event were A.M. Litvin, chief of the military history and inter-government relations at the History Institute of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences; G.V. Skorinko, assistant chief curator of the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War etc.
The event included an exhibition of archival documents and photographs dedicated to the tragedy of the Belarusian people in the Second World War.