An event to rebury the remains of civilians killed by the Nazis took place in the agro-town of Ulla, Beshenkovichi district.

A mourning ceremony for the burial of the remains of civilians, previously discovered in a forest area near the village of Sloboda, Beshenkovichi district, during the investigation of a criminal case on genocide, was held with the participation of the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus, Sergey Khmaruk, and the Prosecutor of the Vitebsk region, Igor Ukrainets.

The mourning ceremony was also attended by the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Belarus – Inspector for the Vitebsk Region, Anatoly Linevich, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, representatives of the regional prosecutor's office, local executive authorities, labor collectives and public associations, representatives of regional confessions, servicemen, students, local residents, and others.

“During the investigation of the criminal case on genocide, we identified the remains of at least 65 people who were exterminated by the Nazi invaders in the autumn of 1942. According to archival documents, about 350 people were killed here. It took us 80 years to bring the deceased out of oblivion. We have forgotten nothing, we remember everything,” said the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus, Sergey Khmaruk.

For reference. In the Beshenkovichi district, over 10,000 civilians were exterminated during the years of Hitler's occupation, about 2,000 people were taken into slavery, over 100 settlements were completely or partially burned down, some of which have not been restored since the war.

The Deputy Prosecutor General emphasized the importance of cooperation with Russian colleagues within the framework of the investigation of this criminal case, as it was in the archives of the Russian Federation that more reliable information about the extermination of civilians in the villages of Sloboda and Bortniki was found, which allowed establishing the specific place of their execution.

Sergey Khmaruk drew special attention to the inadmissibility of distorting historical facts: “We want to remind those who are currently trying to distort the history of our country's and our people's role in the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Therefore, today we honor the memory of the fallen civilians who lived on this land.”

Speaking about the excavations

within the framework of the criminal case investigation into genocide, the Deputy Prosecutor General noted that this work is not finished and it is too early to talk about its results: "Unfortunately, winter conditions do not allow for fieldwork, excavations have been suspended. But they will be resumed in the spring, and we will use the winter period with maximum benefit for the analysis of the information received and the accumulation of new materials."

A memorial service for the deceased was performed by representatives of three religious denominations of Belarus.

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

Within the framework of the event, Sergey Khmaruk also communicated with media representatives.

Information Service of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office