MOSCOW, 3 November (BelTA) – Belarus is pursuing a consistent policy to prevent the glorification of all forms and manifestations of fascism, to get the genocide of the Belarusian people recognized and to highlight the fact that the Belarusian people sustained tremendous losses during the Great Patriotic War, State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Aleksandr Volfovich told reporters following the 10th meeting of Secretaries of the CIS Security Councils in Moscow on 3 November, BelTA has learned.
“The efforts to challenge falsification of history and justification of Nazism are constantly on the agenda of the CIS. The 10th meeting of Secretaries of the CIS Security Councils was no exception. Today it is important more than ever before for the Commonwealth countries to stick to the unified position regarding the fight against the neo-fascist ideology,” Aleksandr Volfovich said.
The state secretary of the Security Council of Belarus noted that in modern conditions, falsification of history and distortion of generally accepted interpretations of the past are among the tools to destabilize political processes inside countries. At the same time, the erosion of the historical and national identity, the glorification of various manifestations of fascism and neo-Nazism are aimed at deforming the consciousness of the public. Belarus is consistently implementing the history policy in order to counteract such attempts.
In particular, the provisions on the preservation of the historical truth and the memory of the Great Patriotic War were reflected in the updated Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and in the new edition of the national security concept that is in the works now. 2022 was declared the Year of Historical Memory in Belarus. It is designed to highlight the heroic heritage and the truth about all historical periods of the Belarusian people, including the crimes of collaborators who allegedly fought for the national idea.
“The Belarusian people were among the most affected nations during the Great Patriotic War. The state is actively working to prevent the revival of Nazism and its glorification. Last year, the law “On preventing the rehabilitation of Nazism” was adopted. At the beginning of this year the head of state signed the law “On the genocide of the Belarusian people”. The General Prosecutor's Office initiated a criminal case into the genocide of the civilian population in the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period by Nazi Germany and its allies. The investigation revealed massive evidence of the kiling of the civilian population of the Byelorussian SSR by Nazi criminals,” Aleksandr Volfovich said.
The Nazi invaders set up 260 concentration camps and places of forced detention and extermination in the BSSR, where at least 546,000 people died. As a result of the genocide on the territory of the BSSR, about three million Soviet people and prisoners of war were killed, more than 377,000 people were taken to Germany. All in all, 209 cities and towns and more than 9,200 villages were destroyed and burned. The new evidence of the extermination of the Belarusian people was documented in the book “Genocide of the Belarusian people” issued by the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Belarus in 2022. Aleksandr Volfovich handed over copies of this book to all participants of the meeting of the Secretaries of the CIS Security Councils.
“Along with active work at home, Belarus constantly pushes for countering attempts to glorify Nazism on international platforms, in international organizations and associations,” Aleksandr Volfovich emphasized.
