Laying flowers and wreaths at the Eternal Flame of the memorial complex «To the Liberators of Vitebsk – Soviet soldiers, partisans and underground workers» («Three bayonets») on Victory Square, dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Khatyn tragedy

On March 22, 2023, employees of the State Archives of the Vitebsk Region took part in the solemn ceremony of laying flowers and wreaths at the Eternal Flame of the memorial complex «To the Liberators of Vitebsk – Soviet soldiers, partisans and underground workers» («Three bayonets») on Victory Square, dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Khatyn tragedy.

The genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War should be given a systematic legal assessment. In April 2021, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Belarus initiated a criminal case on the fact of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War and in the post-war period.

During the investigation of the criminal case on the genocide, more than 10.5 thousand villages and villages were identified (about 9.2 thousand were known before the start of the investigation), which suffered during the years of occupation, including at least 216 settlements (186 – before the initiation of criminal case), which shared the fate of the village of Khatyn, that is, they were completely destroyed along with the inhabitants and did not revive after the war.

The Khatyn tragedy is a historical fact, indisputably proven both by the materials of criminal cases of past years and archival documents, and by the results of the investigation of a modern criminal case on genocide.

The terrible crimes of those war years should not only never be forgotten, but should not be repeated.