Documentary exhibition project «Historical memory: the genocide of the Belarusian people»

On July 11 – 12, 2023, on the basis of the Educational Institution «Center for Training, Advanced Training and Retraining of Personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus», within the framework of the visiting board of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus presented the exhibition project «Historical Memory: the genocide of the Belarusian people».

In 1944, Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish origin, defined the Nazi policy of systematic extermination of Jews. He coined the term «genocide» by combining the Greek word genos, meaning «kind, tribe», with the Latin caedo, «I kill». It can be argued that during the Great Patriotic War Belarus was subjected to all forms of genocide.

The exhibition project of the National Archives introduces documentary materials about the crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices against the civilian population of occupied Belarus, the genocide of the Belarusian people, about the horrifying facts of the massacre of the civilian population during the Great Patriotic War.

The Second World War was not only the bloodiest, but also the most brutal against the civilian population. The exhibition introduces numerous documentary evidence of the crimes of the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War – acts of the Extraordinary State Commission, which contain information not only on the damage caused by the Nazi invaders to the national economy of the BSSR, but also on the crimes committed by the Nazis against the civilian population of the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic war.

Among the presented documents are the memoirs of Olga Petrovna Kraiko – a prisoner of the Auschwitz death camp, a protocol of interrogation of Ludwig Nittka, who took part in the execution of civilians in the village of Shaulichi, Volkovysk district, Grodno region, an act drawn up by residents of the village of Selishche, Kamensky village council, Pleshchenitsky district, Minsk region, about the burning of houses. Khatyn with its population, a memorandum to the head of the BSHPD M.Kalinin on the burning of the bodies of brutally executed Soviet citizens by the Germans in Mogilev and Bobruisk, the order of the field commandant to create a ghetto in Minsk, the order of the commander of the special SS battalion Oskar Dirlewanger to comb the rear during the operation «Hornung», registration cards for Belarusians taken out for forced labor in Germany and other unique archive documents.

The photo-documentary materials presented at the exhibition are united by the idea of preserving historical memory, which contributes to the self-identification of the Belarusian people, instilling patriotism and a sense of pride in the heroic past.

Researcher of the Department for the use of documents and information Prostakova Yu.S. introduces the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus Khomenko S.N. with documentary materials presented at the exhibition «Historical memory: the genocide of the Belarusian people»

Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus Demyanuk A.K. holds a presentation of the documentary exhibition project «Historical memory: the genocide of the Belarusian people»

Introductory speech by the First Deputy Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus Ledovskoy O.A. before the presentation of the documentary exhibition project «Historical memory: the genocide of the Belarusian people»

Leading Researcher Mazetz V.G. and researcher Prostakova Yu.S. introduce the participants of the visiting collegium of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus with the documentary exhibition «Historical memory: the genocide of the Belarusian people»

Leading Researcher Mazetz V.G. introduces cadets of the Educational Institution «Center for Training, Advanced Training and Retraining of Personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus» with archive documents