14 June 2011 the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus holds events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War

14 June 2011 the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus holds events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War (World War II in Soviet Union 1941-1945) prepared as part of the international project on Enhancing the Status of the Survivors of the Burnt Villages of Belarus.

The events include the presentation of the Belarusian-Russian book of documents The Tragedy of Belarusian Villages. 1941-1944, an electronic database on Belarusian Villages Burnt during the Great Patriotic War, and an exhibition of documents entitled Sacred Memory. Tragedy of Belarusian Villages. 1941-1944.

The organisers are the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian Peace Foundation.

Attending the events are members of staff of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, archival institutions, the History Institute of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, the Khatyn State Memorial Complex, the “Historical Memory” Russian Foundation for Assistance to Historical Studies, and the surviving residents of the Belarusian villages burnt during the war.