Memory of the burned villages book and documentary exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Khatyn tragedy
On March 22, 2023, the book and documentary exhibition «Memory of the Burnt Villages» was opened, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Khatyn tragedy, created by the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus together with the National Library of Belarus. It allows us to recall the tragic circumstances of the death of the inhabitants of the village of Khatyn, which resonate with many voices in the fate of thousands of other burned Belarusian villages.
Time tirelessly separates us from the day of the Khatyn tragedy, but interest in it does not decrease. This is confirmed by new exhibition projects, publications, documentaries, museum expositions, works of art. The fate of the village of Khatyn has become a symbol of countless victims, suffering and courage of the Belarusian people in the Great Patriotic War.
The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus at the exhibition exhibits original archival documents of Belarusian partisan formations, materials of witnesses, acts and lists of victims of the Khatyn tragedy, German punitive authorities, testifying to crimes against the civilian population of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. Among the exhibits are thematic book publications: reference books, albums, scientific, popular science and literary and artistic books, revealing in detail the crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices against the civilian population of the village of Khatyn.
Among the distinguishing book publications from the library’s collection is the illustrated encyclopedia of the burned villages of Belarus «We must not forget. Can’t be understood. It cannot be justified», prepared within the framework of the All-Belarusian action «Belarus Remembers» (2019). Pain, grief and memory of the Khatyn tragedy are also conveyed at the exhibition through works of literature and art.
In memory of the victims of fascism in 1969, the Khatyn memorial complex was created. A number of materials are exhibited, representing a memorable place visited not only by residents of Belarus, but also by citizens of dozens of countries around the world. And each of them takes with him, without even realizing it, a small flame of great memory of the Belarusian people. After all, without the memory of the past there is no future.
The exhibition is addressed to a wide range of readers and library visitors.
