Case about genocide of Belarusian people during Great Patriotic War gives new impetus to restoration of historical justice

9 мая 2022
77 years ago they tried to exterminate the Belarusians as a nation: every third person was exterminated. There is no statute of limitations for war crimes and genocide. We have a sacred duty to remember the price of peace and to prevent any attempts to repeat the terrible page in our history. About 30 bodies of people shot during the Great Patriotic War were found in the Chenkovsky Forest near Gomel. The searchers have been working here since last year.

Prominent figures of science, art, history and, of course, heroes of the Great Patriotic War are buried at the Military Cemetery in Minsk. Behind each monument there is an important story: someone led an artillery battery at 21, someone did not live up several months to the Victory. And how many unknown heroes the Belarusian soil rests!

Our country has always paid great attention to historical memory. The theme of the Great Patriotic War and its consequences have become particularly relevant for the Belarusian people in recent years. Thanks to General Prosecutor's Office we already know about more than three hundred places of mass executions, about 14 thousand witnesses of those terrible days have been questioned.

Another sad page in the history of Belarus. A real death factory was set up near Gomel. It was here, in Chenkovsky Forest, that the fascists kept  the civilians. Tens of thousands of Belarusians were buried in an area the size of five soccer fields. The plan of the Germans was to wipe us as a nation off the face of the earth.

The notorious place of mass murders on 7 km of the Chernigov highway was known from postwar documents. But no one knew about the exact location - the Nazis literally cleared the forest during the retreat. When a year ago a strong wind began to fell the trees, human bones rose to the surface. This is the evidence of Nazi atrocities. By the end of last year, the searchers and experts established 13 pits and found the bone remains of 489 people. 

This season searchers were able to find several more pits. By all accounts, it could be said that these people were civilians. Prisoners of war and Jews most often ended up in such death camps. Thus, there were four ghettos in Gomel: Novobelitsky, Bykhov, Novolubensky andMonastyrka. But the finds in the pits indicate that Belarusians were also shot there en masse: they found body crosses and icons.

As historians note, 140 thousand people lived in Gomel before the war. After liberation of the city, only 20 thousand remained.

The Germans kept this place to the end, trying to hide traces of their atrocities. I must say that in the '90s amateurs conducted excavations here. Then they came to the conclusion that the NKVD workers were involved in the deaths. However, it is already known for certain that a German death factory worked here. This year the work on more than 30 places is planned. This is an important moment in the education of youth.

Andrei Shved, Prosecutor General of Belarus:

“As for international contacts, we have serious work with our Russian colleagues. Israel has recently expressed serious interest. They have asked us to assist in transferring a number of important documents. We prepared a draft for cooperation with the relevant Israeli agency to ensure the transfer on a contractual basis. And it is very important for us to have these documents for the investigation.”

On the eve of 9 May, the tragedy and losses suffered by our people are especially acute. Concentration camps, death factories and fights for the Motherland took every third person. The case of genocide of the Belarusian people has given a new impetus to the restoration of historical justice. As long as we remember the deed, we will live.