Documentary exhibition marking 75 years of the tragedy in the Belarusian village of Khatyn burned by the Nazis on 22 March 1943
An exhibition of documents and photographs “Khatyn, the Shrine of National Memory” was opened on 20 March 2018 in Minsk to mark 75 years of the tragedy in the Belarusian village of Khatyn burned together with residents by the Nazis on 22 March 1943.
This memorial event brought together archivists, historians, museum workers, members of the History Institute of the National Academy of Sciences, the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War, the “Historical Memory” Foundation, representatives of the higher education institutions, etc.
The exhibition was opened by Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry Victor Kourash.
The bulk of the exhibition features documents from the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus revealing the details of the crime of the Nazis and their collaborators against the village of Khatyn. These are the documents of the Belarusian partisan formations, the German reports about the events of that day, the testimonies of the former executioners and eye-witnesses.
The exhibition shows investigation certificates and lists of victims testifying that the village of Khatyn was not the only one annihilated by the Nazis during the Occupation period of 1941-1944. In all, 628 villages shared the fate of Khatyn – they were burned to the ground together with residents, and 186 of them never rose from the ashes.
The theme of the Belarusian villages burned during the Nazi Occupation and the Khatyn tragedy has been reflected in a number of published collections of documents prepared by the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus: “Khatyn: Tragedy and Memory”, “The Khatyn Necropolis”, “The Tragedy of Belarusian Villages”, “The Burned Villages in Belarus”, “The Burned Villages in Russia”. All these books have been presented in the exhibition.
The Khatyn State Memorial Complex, the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, and the Local State Archives in Borisov took part in the preparation of the exhibition.
The exhibition is designed in two versions: stationary – original documents displayed in showcases, and mobile – digital copies of documents and photos in eight banners.
