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

22.03.2025

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 alive and shot almost all the inhabitants of the village — 149 people, including 75 children.

The memorial complex "Khatyn" was created on the site of the village in memory of the victims. Thematically, the 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 a symbolic roof of the barn in which people were burned alive. On the mass grave is the "Crown of Memory". On the site of each of the 26 burnt houses is a log monument with an obelisk in the form of a chimney, on which is a memorial plaque with the names of the deceased residents of the house. The obelisks are topped with bells.

The complex contains the world's only "Village Cemetery": 185 urns with soil from villages that were burned down along with their inhabitants during the Great Patriotic War, but were never restored.

Representatives of the State Committee on Science and Technology and its subordinate organizations took part in memorial events dedicated to the 82nd anniversary of the Khatyn tragedy, laying flowers at the Eternal Flame and observing a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the war.

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