With the participation of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor Igor Ukrainets, the remains of civilians killed during the Great Patriotic War were reburied in the Gorodok district in the "Vorobyovy Gory" tract.

The reburial of the bone remains of civilians, discovered in the "Vorobyovy Gory" tract in August 2022 during the investigation of a criminal case on genocide, took place at the "Pantheon of Memory" memorial complex in the Gorodok district.

The mourning ceremony was attended by the Prosecutor of the Vitebsk region Igor Ukrainets, the Prosecutor of the Gorodok district Evgeny Avtsin, the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies Vladimir Terentyev, the Head of the Main Department for Education of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Dmitry Khoma, the district leadership, the dean of the Gorodok district, priest Vladimir Dogodka, representatives of district organizations, students, local residents, and others.

"During the Great Patriotic War, our country lost every third inhabitant. Executions, hangings, burning alive, suffocation in gas chambers, in death camps of children, the elderly, women, men – it is impossible to list or comprehend the atrocities committed by the Nazis and their accomplices on our land. Within the framework of the criminal case on the genocide of the population of the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War, prosecutors are establishing new and new facts of monstrous crimes against our people. This is an unprecedented tragedy in history. Today, as we lay to rest the ashes of our compatriots, paying tribute to their memory, we must comprehend and understand the environment in which we live and what needs to be done to prevent this terrible tragedy from recurring. The war is not over until its last victim is laid to rest! Their memory will live forever! Eternal memory!" said the Prosecutor of the Vitebsk region Igor Ukrainets.

As a result of archival research conducted at the Gorodok District Museum of Local Lore, the memoirs of a resident of the village of Dubrovo were found, describing the fact that during the occupation of the Gorodok district on January 7, 1943, 65 residents of the village of Dubikovo, Gorodok district, were shot in the "Vorobyovy Gory" tract. In the post-war years, the man marked the place of death of his fellow villagers with a metal cross.

From August 4 to 10, 2022, search operations were carried out in the "Vorobyovy Gory" tract near the metal cross, resulting in the discovery of the human remains of 16 civilians, 2 bullets, and fragments of footwear and household items.

For reference. In total, during the war in the Horadok district, more than 8,000 civilians and about 300 settlements were destroyed, 35 of which were never revived. Today, 47 juvenile prisoners live in the district. Officially, 34 burial sites of war victims have been identified, where 7,132 people killed by the fascists are buried.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Vitebsk region has studied tens of thousands of archival documents and interrogated over 2.5 thousand citizens. In the Vitebsk region, 63 previously unknown burial sites of the civilian population have already been found and inspected.

The participants of the event honored the memory of all the fallen with a minute of silence, after which they laid fresh flowers at the burial site.

Information service of the Prosecutor's Office of the Vitebsk region,