MINSK, 27 March (BelTA) – The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supported the initiative of Austrian Ambassador to Belarus Aloisia Worgetter to mark the first anniversary of the Array of Names monument. Representatives of the ministry and the ambassador laid wreaths at the monument to Austrian victims of Nazism in the Trostenets Memorial Complex to show solidarity and support for joint efforts to preserve the memory of the tragedy of World War II, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Array of Names monument in the Trostenets Memorial Complex commemorating Austrian citizens who were killed in the Trostenets death camp during WWII was unveiled on 28 March 2019. The inauguration ceremony featured Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Federal Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz. “The countries' cooperation in the implementation of the project to design and construct the monument was an excellent example of cooperation in humanitarian affairs and culture and helped intensify the Belarusian-Austrian relations in general,” the ministry noted.
During the official visit of the Belarusian head of state to Austria in November 2019, the Belarusian delegation gave the House of Austrian History items that belonged to the Austrian citizens killed by the Nazis in the Trostenets death camp and were discovered during archaeological excavations. “We intend to continue cooperating in this sphere and promote ties between scientific institutions and museums of Belarus and Austria,” the ministry added.
The event that took place on 28 March to celebrate the first anniversary of the memorial had a symbolic meaning as it was held ahead of celebrations timed to the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the ministry believes.
The Austrian Embassy in Belarus noted that it was impossible to mark the occasion on a greater scale due to the current epidemiological situation. “The situation in the world and Austria did not allow us to meet with those we would like to see, this is why we decided to talk over the phone or on the internet,” Ambassador Aloisia Worgetter said at the beginning of a special commemorative event organized on the official Facebook account of the embassy. During the online event, the ambassador talked with participants of the ceremony to unveil the monument in Trostenets, the designers of the monument, and representatives of Jewish communities.
Member of the House of Representatives Valery Voronetsky also took part in the online event. He stressed the important role of the historical memory as a uniting force. “I am sure that the common page of our history that tells about numerous victims of the Trostenets death camp will unite us and give us strength to move on and to make sure that this will never happen again. We need to know about those events, remember them, and move forward together,” he said.
To commemorate the victims of Nazism, the ONT TV channel will broadcast the film Sonderghetto.
