March 22 - Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khatyn Tragedy

March 22 - Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khatyn Tragedy

Today we are embarking on new investigations and uncovering many facts about that war that were previously hushed up, fears often silencing the truth

Khatyn is not merely a dark chapter in the history of Belarusians; it stands as a poignant symbol of the suffering endured by the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. This perspective was shared by Alexey Belyaev, Dean of the Journalism Department at BSU.

It was long believed that during the Great Patriotic War, the country lost one in every four Belarusians—about 2.2 million out of 10 million people living in pre-war times.

“In Khatyn, an extraordinary memorial was created, where the Eternal Flame burns, flanked by three birch trees, with the fire illuminating the spot where the fourth once stood. However, today we are embarking on new investigations and uncovering many facts about that war that were previously hushed up, fears often silencing the truth. Thanks in part to the ongoing work of the Prosecutor General’s Office, which is carrying out investigations into genocide and turning this into a serious undertaking involving the finest minds in Belarusian forensics and search teams, it has now been established that it was not one in four, but one in three Belarusians who perished,” noted Alexey Belyaev.

Following academic research, new sites of the deaths of Belarusian citizens have come to light, including concentration camps and ghettos that the Nazis established in various Belarusian cities. "This is all the outcome of relentless pursuit," Belyaev concluded.