MINSK, 9 May (BelTA) - Belarus is celebrating one of the most important holidays in the country's history - Victory Day. For the Belarusians it is not only a holiday but also a day of remembrance, deep respect and gratitude to Soviet soldiers, home front workers, partisans and underground movement members - to all who made the Victory possible.
The Soviet people played a crucial role in the defeat of the fascism, bore the brunt of the war and shaped the future of the entire civilization.
On 9 May 1945, the Soviet people achieved the victory in the Great Patriotic War which lasted for 1418 days and nights. The first step towards the Great Victory began on the Belarusian land on 22 June 1941.
Belarus was the first among of the Soviet Union republics that came under a massive attack of the invaders becoming the scene of major battles. The border guards were the first to face the enemy's offensive. Enemy aircraft bombed railway junctions, airfields, the cities of Brest, Volkovysk, Grodno, Baranovichi and other Belarusian cities.
Belarus demonstrated a widespread resistance to the enemy with the start of the occupation. The war in Belarus continued into 28 July 1944 when the Soviet Army's Operation Bagration put an end to the Nazi occupation of the country.
Belarus was one of the nations who suffered most in the war. In Belarus the Nazis conducted more than 140 punitive operations. A tragic symbol of mass destruction of the civilian population is the village of Khatyn where the Nazis killed 149 villagers and burned 28 houses.
In Belarus, there were about 250 camps for Soviet prisoners of war and 350 places of forced detention. Among them is Trostenets, Europe's fourth largest concentration camp, where 206,500 people were killed.
Some 34.4 million Soviet soldiers, including more than 1.3 million Belarusians and natives of Belarus fought in the war. In the territory of Belarus occupied by the enemy there were over 374,000 partisans, more than 70,000 members of the anti-fascist underground movement.
Belarus lost more than a half of its national wealth in the war. 209 cities and regional centers, and also 9200 villages were destroyed and burnt. Every third resident of Belarus was killed during the war.
The contribution of the Belarusian people to the Great Victory was recognized worldwide. At the international conference held in San Francisco in 1945 to institute the United Nations Organization a decision was taken to include Belarus into the number of the UN founders.
In the history of Belarus there was not a war more brutal than the Great Patriotic War, there was not a feat bigger than the feat of the Soviet soldiers who defended the motherland from the enemy, who saved the humanity from the Nazism. The memory of the terrible war and the Great Victory shall not fade away: it is forever inscribed in the history of the fatherland and every Belarusian family. The tragedy and the Victory are the eternal source of pain and bitterness, pride and glory of the Belarusian people.
