The Khatyn Memorial was opened on 5 July 1969. It was built on the site of the village whose 149 residents were burned alive or shot to death by the Nazis for possible assistance to partisans. It became the symbol of countless victims, sufferings and courage of Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. Hundreds of other Belarusian villages shared the fate of Khatyn during the war.