BEST, 17 April (BelTA) – Brest held a ceremony to reinter the remains of victims of the genocide committed by the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War at the Garrison Cemetery on 17 April, BelTA learned.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prosecutor General Gennady Dysko, Assistant to the President - Inspector for Brest Oblast Valery Vakulchik, the city administration, representatives of law enforcement agencies, clergy, the public, schoolchildren and students.
The victims of the genocide died but never surrendered. “It's like a message to us, to the descendants to remember what fascism is and what it carries. Neo-Nazism is now rearing its head in the West. There was an attempt to bring this ideology to Belarus in 2020 but we stood our ground,” the deputy prosecutor general said.
The criminal case into the genocide of the Belarusian people was initiated in April 2021. A colossal amount of work has been done since then. “To date, our losses stand at more than 3 million citizens of Belarus of different nationalities, almost 12,500 destroyed villages and towns. 166 places of mass graves of citizens, previously unknown, have been identified in the course of the criminal investigation. 113 of them have been excavated, the remains have been removed and some are being reburied. This work continues,” Gennady Dysko added.
Valery Vakulchik expressed gratitude to the 52nd separate specialized search battalion of the Defense Ministry for the work on perpetuating, documenting and preserving the historical truth about the Great Patriotic War. “Commemorating the victims of fascism is a kind of reminder to us, the living (primarily our youth) about the price our people had to pay for the Victory eight decades ago. Civilian victims of the Red Barracks concentration camp were taken to Germany for slave labor. Exhausted and sick, they were brought back to Belarus to die. This is a clear example that shows what kind of fate they had in mind for the Belarusian people,” Valery Vakulchik said.
He emphasized that the Belarusians would not allow the distortion of the historical truth. “We remember. Our youth remembers and knows. In our hearts we are deeply grateful to the victorious heroes and grieve for the victims of fascism. We carry a sense of responsibility to them. We must make sure their sacrifices were not in vain. We must never allow Nazism on our land. Like 80 years ago, we are united. Together with the peoples of the former Soviet Union we share the DNA of a victorious nation. We are peaceful people, but we stand ready to adequately respond to any aggression,” Valery Vakulchik said.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prosecutor General Gennady Dysko, Assistant to the President - Inspector for Brest Oblast Valery Vakulchik, the city administration, representatives of law enforcement agencies, clergy, the public, schoolchildren and students.
The Nazis occupied Brest on 22 June 1941 and began to establish camps for Soviet prisoners of war in the city. One of them was located a kilometer away from the village of Rechitsa (now a neighborhood of the same name of Brest). Before the Great Patriotic War it was the base of a Red Army unit. The camp was fenced with two rows of barbed wire. More than 7,000 prisoners of war and at least 2,000 civilians died of disease and starvation there. During the investigation of the criminal case into the genocide of the Belarusian people, additional information was studied and Brest citizens, who used to dig up fragments of human bones during construction works, were interviewed. Brest Oblast Prosecutor's Office initiated search operations in 2024 and uncovered a previously unknown burial place.
“We are burying 38 citizens who were identified during the criminal investigation at the Red Barracks concentration camp. It held both servicemen and civilians. In the course of the forensic medical examination, we identified the remains of both children, women and old men. We wonder: how were they a threat to the heavily armed fascists, what was their guilt? Their guilt was that they lived on this land, were born here, went to school, brought up their children. We do not know who these people were (except for two Red Army soldiers). But we know for sure that they did not bow down to the enemy, did not surrender,” Gennady Dysko said.
The victims of the genocide died but never surrendered. “It's like a message to us, to the descendants to remember what fascism is and what it carries. Neo-Nazism is now rearing its head in the West. There was an attempt to bring this ideology to Belarus in 2020 but we stood our ground,” the deputy prosecutor general said.
The criminal case into the genocide of the Belarusian people was initiated in April 2021. A colossal amount of work has been done since then. “To date, our losses stand at more than 3 million citizens of Belarus of different nationalities, almost 12,500 destroyed villages and towns. 166 places of mass graves of citizens, previously unknown, have been identified in the course of the criminal investigation. 113 of them have been excavated, the remains have been removed and some are being reburied. This work continues,” Gennady Dysko added.
Valery Vakulchik expressed gratitude to the 52nd separate specialized search battalion of the Defense Ministry for the work on perpetuating, documenting and preserving the historical truth about the Great Patriotic War. “Commemorating the victims of fascism is a kind of reminder to us, the living (primarily our youth) about the price our people had to pay for the Victory eight decades ago. Civilian victims of the Red Barracks concentration camp were taken to Germany for slave labor. Exhausted and sick, they were brought back to Belarus to die. This is a clear example that shows what kind of fate they had in mind for the Belarusian people,” Valery Vakulchik said.
He emphasized that the Belarusians would not allow the distortion of the historical truth. “We remember. Our youth remembers and knows. In our hearts we are deeply grateful to the victorious heroes and grieve for the victims of fascism. We carry a sense of responsibility to them. We must make sure their sacrifices were not in vain. We must never allow Nazism on our land. Like 80 years ago, we are united. Together with the peoples of the former Soviet Union we share the DNA of a victorious nation. We are peaceful people, but we stand ready to adequately respond to any aggression,” Valery Vakulchik said.
The clergy held a prayer for the repose of the souls of war victims. The participants to the ceremony observed a minute of silence, laid flowers at the grave.
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