Documentary evidence of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War is presented at an exhibition in the regional museum of local lore. The exposition is based on historical documents exposing the crimes of Nazism and materials collected by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Belarus during the investigation of a criminal case initiated in April 2021 into the extermination of Belarusians.
Documentary evidence of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War is presented at an exhibition in the regional museum of local lore. The exposition is based on historical documents exposing the crimes of Nazism and materials collected by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Belarus during the investigation of a criminal case initiated in April 2021 into the extermination of Belarusians.
– It is important that Belarusian society is raising the issue of genocide during the Great Patriotic War. The exhibition presents previously unknown evidence of the atrocities of the occupiers. Such an exhibition is needed primarily for the younger generation, who must know what fate the fascists had planned for the Belarusian people. They planned to exterminate the main part of the population and make the rest slaves to serve the Aryan nation. This is what this exhibition speaks about, – emphasized Vladimir Terentyev, Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies.
As Artemy Vasilevich, Head of the Scientific and Educational Department of the VOKM, explained, the exhibition features documents from the funds of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, as well as materials from the investigative case conducted by the Prosecutor General's Office. Most of the evidence of the occupiers' atrocities are being exhibited for the first time.
– Previously, we did not separately address the issue of genocide of peoples, considering it in the general context of the events of the Great Patriotic War. This is one of the most terrible pages of history, and we must not forget about it, – said Artemy Vasilevich.
The project "Genocide of the Belarusian People during the Great Patriotic War" includes several stands detailing the concentration camps and ghettos established by the fascists on the territory of Belarus. The exhibition is complemented by exhibits from the collections of the regional museum of local lore – letters, photographs, commemorative badges, and newspaper clippings from that era. Among them are the testimonies of prisoners from one of the most horrific death camps, "5th Regiment," where Sofya Pankova and Vera Khozhaia, along with other patriots, were tortured. In total, five concentration camps operated in the Vitebsk region. The display case features a witness interrogation record detailing atrocities committed by the German invaders, photographs of the remains of executed people, and a personal record book of an individual subjected to forced labour in Germany during the war.
– Genocide is a terrible word. It signifies the extermination, the annihilation of a lineage, tribe, or national group. During the Great Patriotic War, Belarusians, like many other peoples of the Soviet Union, had to endure the horrors of this Nazi policy. Places of mass extermination were established throughout the country. In the course of investigating the case of the genocide of the Belarusian people, the Vitebsk Prosecutor's Office and the city department of the Investigative Committee interviewed over 900 victims and witnesses who, as young children, found themselves in fascist captivity. With the assistance of the Vitebsk Cadet School, 49 previously unknown burial sites were identified, and over 3,000 archival cases were reviewed. The horrific events of the war period cannot be erased from the memory of the Belarusian people. This exhibition is our message to the youth and future generations, urging them to carry on the relay of remembrance," noted the Prosecutor of Vitebsk, Andrei Shklyarevsky.
The exhibition will form an integral part of an excursion route developed by the museum. This route also includes an introduction to the "Defenders of the Fatherland" exhibition and the basements of the SD prison. It concludes at a memorial sign erected near the town hall, marking the site where gallows stood during the occupation, used for the execution of civilians.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by
