Former juvenile concentration camp prisoner from Vitebsk: We are ready to stand in the square all day long on Victory Day

The survivors of the terrible years of war and young prisoners of war are ready to stay for twenty-four hours on Victory Day in the square to celebrate the great holiday. This opinion was shared by former minor prisoner Galina Vasilyeva at the rally in Vitsebsk. BELTA quotes her words.

Today, hundreds of people have gathered in Victory Square to honor the memory of Soviet soldiers and celebrate the great holiday together. Galina Vasilyeva has welcomed it for the 77th time in Vitebsk. The first time, in 1945, she was on the territory of Germany, where she and her family were deported at the beginning of the war. She had been in three concentration camps when she was only 6 years old in 1941. "We didn't return home until August 1945: they couldn't take everyone out at once. We wanted to go home so badly. When we arrived we had nothing, everything was ruined," she said.

Those were the hardest years and equally frightening for both adults and children," explained Galina Vasilyeva. - When you cling to your mother's skirt and think only to survive. When you see with your own eyes these atrocities, when people are undressed, humiliated, tortured and shot in front of you. A German sets his dogs on you and tells you what part of your body to bite off. Is it possible? Is it conceivable to endure this? We have survived and, thank God, survived alive - that's the main thing.

Vitebsk resident noted that it was a joy to look at happy people's faces and to be part of the great celebration. "Victory Day is a universal, great holiday. It's simply impossible to live without it. We can even stay here all day long on this holiday. It is very dear to us - words can't describe it," the woman added.

"It is holy for all of us, said former juvenile prisoner Liliya Nikonova. - I always come here in a good mood - we celebrate a great day. It should be definitely honored, venerated and remembered, that people gave their lives for us so we could live in joy. And now we live in joy and peace. The state takes such a good care of us, it treats us in a very humane way. They come and visit us, schoolchildren come and help us financially, they support us."