On June 22, Belarus celebrates the Day of National Remembrance of the victims of the Great Patriotic War and the genocide of the Belarusian people

22.06.2023

On June 22, a mournful date is celebrated in Belarus — the Day of National Remembrance of the victims of the Great Patriotic War and the genocide of the Belarusian people. The frontier guards and forward units of the covering troops were the first to take the enemy's blow. Enemy aircraft bombed railway junctions, airfields, as well as Brest, Grodno, Volkovysk, Baranovichi and other Belarusian cities. The border guards of the 17th Brest, 86th August, 87th Lomzhinsky, 88th Shepetovsky border detachments and Soviet pilots fought heroically.

In the first hours of the war, Brest and the fortress were subjected to massive shelling and air bombardment. The heroic garrison of the Brest Fortress stubbornly fought the enemy for more than a month.

On the territory of the BSSR, the Nazi invaders created 260 places of forced detention and destruction of the population, their branches and departments, including concentration camps — places of imprisonment and physical destruction of people on political, racial, religious and other grounds. The largest not only in Belarus, but also throughout the occupied Soviet territory was the Trostenets death camp, where more than 206,500 people died.

During 1941-1944, the invaders carried out more than 140 major punitive operations on the territory of Belarus, destroyed about 9,200 villages and villages, of which 5,295 shared the fate of Khatyn — they were destroyed along with all or part of the population. Of the burned villages, 186 never revived.

In total, more than 1.3 million Belarusians and natives of Belarus fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, of which 446 were awarded the highest award of the country — the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and four — twice. About 400 thousand Belarusian soldiers were awarded military orders and medals. During the war years, more than 400 Belarusians became generals and admirals.

For the mass heroism and courage shown in the fight against the aggressors, the capital of Belarus, the city of Minsk, among 12 cities of the former Soviet Union, was awarded the honorary title of a hero city. The title of a hero-fortress was given to the Brest Fortress.

The Great Patriotic War is a battle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders, unprecedented in history in terms of its scale and fierceness. In this war, Belarus lost every third inhabitant — the memory of them will live forever.

On this day, commemorative actions, requiem rallies, flower-laying ceremonies at monuments and obelisks are held throughout the republic.

Director of the State Institution "BelISA" Natalya Pavlova, together with representatives of the State Committee for Science and Technology and its subordinate organizations, took part in the laying of flowers at the mass grave on Tolbukhin Boulevard. The remains of Soviet prisoners of war who were killed by the Nazi invaders and their accomplices, as well as those who died from wounds and diseases, are buried here. The list of those buried includes partisans and underground workers executed by the invaders, civilians killed as a result of punitive actions. Burials in a mass grave were carried out for almost the entire period of the occupation of the city. The mass grave is one of the largest military graves in the city of Minsk.