At least 12,868 villages and hamlets destroyed in Belarus during WWII

In April 2021, the Prosecutor General of Belarus decided to open a criminal investigation into the genocide of the Belarusian people committed by Nazi criminals and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period.

To restore historical justice, prevent the falsification of events, and preserve the memory of the tragedy of the Belarusian people—these are the reasons why such a large-scale investigation was important.

Before its initiation, it was believed that 9,200 rural settlements in the BSSR suffered during the occupation. The criminal case materials confirm the destruction of at least 12,868 villages and hamlets. At least 290 villages, not 186 as previously believed, suffered the tragic fate of Khatyn, being completely burned down along with their inhabitants and not revived after the war.

It has been established that the Nazi invaders established 580 death camps in Belarus, where they incarcerated people against their will, inflicting mental and physical suffering on them, and subjecting them to heavy physical labor.

During the Nazi occupation, more than 3 million civilians and prisoners of war were killed on our soil; 209 cities were destroyed, including such major cities as Minsk, Gomel, Vitebsk, and others; more than 380,000 people were deported into German slave labor, many of whom died from intolerable conditions. The forced labor of children, often used as blood donors, was also widespread.

During the investigation into the genocide of the Belarusian people, more than 21,000 people have been identified and questioned. Nearly 8,000 of these are victims, including former death camp prisoners. Their testimony has become part of the evidence base and allows us to consistently reconstruct the events of those years and the circumstances of the crimes committed.

More than 130 excavations have been conducted at the sites of the tragedies. Search operations are ongoing. Across the country, 166 previously unknown sites of extermination and burial of civilians and prisoners of war have already been identified, more than half of which are mass burial sites.