79 years since the Khatyn tragedy

The Senior Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision of Inquiry and Operational-Investigative Activities of the Regional Prosecutor's Office, V.V. Derbeneva, participated in a meeting at the State Educational Institution "Gymnasium No. 2 of Vitebsk," dedicated to the memory of the victims of the tragedy that occurred on March 22, 1943, in the village of Khatyn. Together with the eighth and sixth-grade students of the gymnasium and the teaching staff, the memory of the perished children and residents of the village of Khatyn was honored.

79 years ago, German punitive detachments surrounded the village, herded all the elderly, women, and children into a barn, locked them in, and burned them alive. Only one resident of this village miraculously survived, thanks to whom the current generation knows about the horrific tragedy of those times.

Our state remembers and honors the memory of the fallen and the heroes of the Second World War. The genocide committed by the German-Fascist invaders will never be forgotten. In this regard, on January 5, 2022, the President of the Republic of Belarus, A.G. Lukashenko, signed the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Genocide of the Belarusian People," the implementation of which will contribute to the inadmissibility of distorting the results of the Great Patriotic War, as well as to the consolidation of Belarusian society.

The Prosecutor General's Office has initiated and is currently investigating a criminal case on the genocide of the Belarusian people. Within the framework of the investigation, the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has studied hundreds of archival documents and interrogated over 2.5 thousand citizens, of whom slightly less than two thousand are prisoners of fascist camps and over three hundred are their relatives.

To date, more than 400 German-Fascist punitive detachments have been identified residing in 17 countries, to which relevant materials for legal assistance in the case have been sent.

The prosecutor's office's work on investigating the criminal case of genocide is primarily aimed at preserving historical justice. It is especially important that the updated Constitution of the Republic of Belarus also reflects the theme of preserving historical memory and patriotism as the duty of every citizen of our country.

In conclusion, the students thanked the Senior Prosecutor of the Department of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office for the interesting and informative presentation.

 

Senior Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision of

investigation and operational-search activities                                                 V.V. Derbeneva