March 22 – Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Khatyn Tragedy

22.03.2024

Khatyn is a symbol of the terrible tragedy that the Belarusian people experienced during the Great Patriotic War. On March 22, 1943, fascist punitive forces burned and shot alive almost all the village residents — 149 people, including 75 children.

On the site of the village, the Khatyn memorial complex was created in memory of the victims. The decision to build the memorial was made in 1966. The grand opening of the complex took place on July 5, 1969.

Thematically, the Khatyn memorial consists of several parts, but has a single compositional solution that repeats the layout of the former village. In the center is a bronze sculpture of the "Unconquered Man", next to it is the symbolic roof of the barn in which people were burned alive. On the mass grave — "Crown of Memory". On the site of each of the 26 burned houses there is a log-house monument with an obelisk in the shape of a chimney, on which there is a memorial plaque with the names of the dead residents of the house. The obelisks are topped with bells.

In 2004, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, the Khatyn state memorial complex was reconstructed. On the day of the 80th anniversary of the tragedy of the village of Khatyn, March 22, 2023, the opening of the exhibition of the new Museum in memory of the victims of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War took place in the memorial complex.

On the territory of the complex there is the only "Village Cemetery" in the world: 185 urns with earth from villages that were burned along with their inhabitants during the Great Patriotic War, but were never restored.

Remembering Khatyn, we remember thousands of other Belarusian villages destroyed by the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War.

Director of the State Institution "BelISA" Vladimir Susha, together with representatives of the State Committee for Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus and its subordinate organizations, took part in the flower-laying ceremony at the Khatyn memorial complex, dedicated to the 81st anniversary of the tragedy.