Exhibition of records Burned Villages. Memorial Sites in Belarus opened at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin to mark 70th anniversary of Khatyn tragedy

An exhibition featurings photos and documents “The Burned Villages. Memorial Sites in Belarus” has opened at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin. The event is timed to the 70th anniversary of the tragedy in the Khatyn village. The exposition is prepared by the Belarusian embassy to Germany together with the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus on basis of records provided by the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings.

The exhibition features 25 photographs taken in different years depicting the commemoration of the Nazi victims in Belarus, and over 20 copies of the unique documentary evidence of the crimes committed by the Nazis in Belarus during the Second World War.

The exhibition opening was attended by the ambassadors of Belarus and Russia in Germany, members of other CIS countries’ diplomatic missions, the German Foreign Ministry, president of the German People’s Union for the Care of War Graves, representatives of culture institutions and public organizations.

The participants were shown two fragments of the television report from the opening ceremony of the Khatyn Memorial Complex in 1969, including the address by the witness of the Khatyn tragedy, Josef Kaminsky. Pianist Margarita Bryndina performed the Songs of the War Years programme.

The exhibition will run until 7 June 2013.