On the participation of the institution «State Archives of the Gomel Region» in a single Lesson of Memory as part of the «Archives to School» campaign

On January 14, 2025, senior researcher of the institution «State Archives of the Gomel Region» Maya Valentinovna Vashchenko took part in a single Lesson of Memory at the state educational institution «Secondary School No.75 of Gomel», dedicated to the tragedy in the village of Ola. She told the students about the documents from the period of the Great Patriotic War stored in the archive, which are indisputable evidence of the atrocities of the Nazi invaders on the Gomel land. An integral part of the occupation regime were punitive operations, the purpose of which was the mass extermination of the civilian population.

On January 14, 1944, a German punitive detachment, together with a military unit, surrounded the village of Ola, where residents of twelve surrounding villages were hiding. People were driven into houses and set on fire. Those who tried to escape were shot. 1,758 people were burned alive, including 950 children, 508 women, 100 men, 200 old people. In 2020, the Ola memorial complex was created on the site of the destroyed village.

Addressing the students, Maya Valentinovna emphasized that life is the true and indisputable wealth of a person. In order for people to be able to live, create and think about the future, so that the country grows stronger and prospers, we must take care of our memory. Preserve it and pass it on to descendants without distortion, because «We live as long as we remember! We are alive as long as we are remembered!»

The participants of the event lit candles and honored the memory of those killed in the village of Ola on January 14, 1944 with a minute of silence.

1. Senior researcher Maya Valentinovna Vaschenko with students of secondary school No.75 at an event dedicated to the tragedy in the village of Ola

2. A minute of silence in memory of the victims of Nazism

3. White cranes as an eternal memory of the victims