Remains of Italian soldier from WWII found in Belarusian Dobrush

MINSK, 18 June (BelTA) – This year we have unearthed the remains of an Italian soldier believed to have been killed during the Great Patriotic War, and found the weapons, perhaps of Italian make, in the basement of the former command center in Dobrush, Sergei Voronovich, the head of the department for perpetuating the memory of Fatherland defenders and war victims at the Armed Forces, told a press conference, BelTA has learned.

“In Dobrush during the excavations we found the remains, as we assume, of an Italian soldier who died during the Great Patriotic War. We also found grenades and a rifle, presumably Italian-made, in the basement of the building, which hosted the command center during the war,” Sergei Voronovich noted.

“The remains and related finds have been handed over to the district department of the Investigative Committee. After the necessary examinations, and in case it is confirmed that the remains belong to an Italian soldier, the Defense Ministry will inform the Italian Embassy,” he added.

According to Sergei Voronovich, the remains of a Polish soldier died in 1939, were found in the Brest Fortress in May. An examination of the remains is underway. The final decision will be based on the findings.

This year Br986,000 has been allocated for the state program aimed at perpetuating those who died defending the Fatherland and preserving the memory of war victims. In January-May 2020, the data on 5,762 people who died during the war was added to the database “The Book of Memory of the Republic of Belarus” . Sergei Voronovich said that before 9 May a test access to this database was enabled on the website of the Defense Ministry. The final version is under development. According to Sergei Voronovich, the work will be completed by the end of July.

Since the beginning of the year some 46 graves of those killed during the wars have been registered in the state record-keeping system. As of 1 June, a total of 7,812 military cemeteries were in the state record-keeping system. These are more than 2 million people. More than 528,000 of them have been identified.

The representative of the Defense Ministry said that more than Br4 million was spent in 2019 as part of the state program for 2015-2020 to perpetuate the memory of who died defending the Fatherland and preserving the memory of war victims.

More than 4,500 war graves were renovated. Information about over 21,000 war victims was engraved on memorial slabs, data about 13,478 soldiers were added to the database “The Book of Memory of the Republic of Belarus”, and another 76 war graves fell under the state supervision. Last year, the Belarusian Defense Ministry awarded 33 people with the badge “For Active Search Efforts”, which brought the total number of awardees to 146.

The search for remains and war graves was underway at 117 sites. As a result, the remains of 1,940 people were handed over to local authorities for burial. As many as 156 were identified, 122 of them are victims of the Great Patriotic War.

The Brest ghetto was the largest site for the search activities. As a result, the remains of 1,014 prisoners of the ghetto were found. Moreover, the remains of 138 soldiers of the Red Army were unearthed in Vetka District of Gomel Oblast, of 93 soldiers and 10 war victims in Vitebsk District, and of 76 soldiers in Svetlogorsk District.