The Belarusian nation paid a heavy price for freedom during the Great Patriotic War, Belarus' Information Minister Lilia Ananich said at the international forum Great Victory Through Unity on 28 April, BelTA has learned.
“It is deeply symbolic that the forum Great Victory Through Unity is held in Belarus. The Belarusian nation paid a heavy price for victory and freedom during that heinous war. The black wing of the war touched every Belarusian family,” the minister said.
She reminded the forum that 209 out of 270 towns and district capitals and more than 9,000 villages of Belarus were destroyed. The Nazis ran 260 death camps and 170 ghettos in Belarus. “The Trostenets concentration camp near Minsk alone claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Soviet people and citizens of European countries,” Lilia Ananich said.
Over 1.3 million Belarusians were Red Army soldiers. More than 500,000 Belarusians were members of partisan brigades or underground resistance movement. According to the available data, soldiers of 21 nationalities died during the Brest Fortress defense.
“Soviet soldiers did not think about nationalities. They were united when raising the Banner of Victory. It means that the victory is common and will always be undivided,” the minister emphasized. Today we need to protect the Victory and prevent rewriting of the history. Mass media should pay more attention to this in order to preserve the truth about those events and to ensure peace on Earth, the minister said.