Opening of memorial complex in village of Ola. President visits Gomel Region

These days we remember with great pain the tragic date that left unhealed wounds in the history of the Belarusian people. 79 years ago, at dawn on June 22, 1941, fascist Germany, having broken the non-aggression treaty, started the war against the Soviet Union. The most powerful group of German troops attacked the territory of Belarus. Hostile aviation bombed railway hubs, airfields, as well as Brest, Grodno, Volkovysk, Baranovichi and other cities. 

For the sake of future generations, it is our duty to tell them how  we received peace and prosperity. 

In the year of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, memorials are being created all over Belarus, because the memory will always live in our hearts.  Yesterday, the Head of State visited the new memorial complex "In Memory of Burnt Villages in Mogilev Region" in the village of Borki. The Nazis burned alive about two thousand civilians there. 

Today, the President visited Gomel Region, the village of Ola, where the Memorial was also opened. In 1944, it was here, surrounded by swamps and forests, that the residents of 7 neighboring villages gathered to wait together for soldiers of the Soviet army. But instead of the saviors, the Nazis came to the village. Some residents were shot. The rest of them were taken to the barn and set on fire.

1,758 people were burned alive in a fiery trap including 950 children. Old men and children were thrown into the fire alive, and those who escaped from the flames were killed. 

By the number of victims, Ola is equal to 12 Khatyns.

The village was never reborn after the war, only the ashes remained, and on the outskirts there is a common grave, now marked by a memorial stone. Residents of the district have set up a cross themselves.

Last December, during the President's conversation with students and faculty of the Medical University, a student of Gomel University raised the issue of creating a memorial complex in Ola. Of course, Alexander Lukashenko supported the initiative and the construction began. They opened a charity account, created a project, and all those who are not indifferent took up the implementation. And now it is one of the major memorial complexes in Belarus. As he promised, the President has come to the opening! 

The architects decided to recreate that central street of 225 meters. Instead of houses, there are symbolic portals. Throughout the route there are steles with silhouettes of dead civilians. And even the tiles for the "memory road" have bumps so that visitors could feel the gravity of the tragedy with every step.

The motto "Nobody's forgotten, nothing's forgotten" brings us all together. Belarus lost every third person during the Great Patriotic War. The price of that Victory is too high. 

The memorial today has brought together people for whom our history (the pain and loss) is not an abstract concept.

Along with the construction of the memorial, the common burial place of the Red Army soldiers was also reconstructed. Young apple trees with the name "Ola" were planted. It's symbolic that their fruit is dark red.

The trail to the place of burned Ola has never been forgotten in 75 peaceful years. The flow of relatives of the dead and simply not indifferent people, excursion groups did not stop even during the construction of the complex. People come here to honor the memory, leave flowers and children's toys.

"We live as long as we remember. We are alive as long as we are remembered" - that's how the memorial complex will welcome visitors.

Ola, Borki, Khatyn, Trostenets are history lessons for the contemporaries telling the truth about that war page written in blood to prevent the revival of the terrible past. The stone, concrete and metal keep the pain and terror of the old people, the last cry of children and mothers! Such memorials will continue to be opened in different parts of the country as symbols of our angry memory, which will never forgive fascism!