Education employees commemorated Khatyn victims
Khatyn, 22 March. An endless flow of residents and guests of Belarus went to the Khatyn memorial complex. On this day, it is more crowded than usual. From the very morning of the 82nd anniversary of the tragedy in Khatyn, families and groups come here to remember the women and old people who prematurely passed away into eternity and to remind the younger generation of the tragic events that took place on our land.
On this day in 1943, the Nazis burned alive 149 residents of a peaceful village in Khatyn, 75 of whom were children. The perpetrators of the genocide were policemen of the 118th Ukrainian battalion. They were commanded by a German, Major Erich Körner. His deputy was a Pole, Konstantin Smovski. In practice, the executioner Grigory Vasyura led the killings. He ordered that people who tried to escape be burned in a barn - sent to be shot.
Trials of executioners continue even after many years. The crimes of executioners Smovsky, Serafimovich, Katryuk have not been erased by time, and the verdict of history is inevitable. Show trials of Nazi criminals are needed so that people remember the historical truth. Veterans, underage prisoners of fascist concentration camps and all who survived that terrible time do not need to be told about the horrors of Nazism.
On the eve of the memorable date, a Memory lesson dedicated to the tragedy in Khatyn was held in all educational institutions of the country. And today, teachers and students came to express their grief and that of the Belarusian people at the symbol of eternal memory. Education Ministry staff laid flowers at the foot of the monument. At the end of the memorial event, Education Minister Andrey Ivanets noted in a conversation with journalists: "Until the path to the monuments is overgrown, we will remember history, which means our people will have a future. Therefore, today in educational institutions we are working to perpetuate the memory of the feat of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War. In schools, there are more than 5.5 thousand exhibits dedicated to the genocide of our people. More than 2.5 thousand museums and museum rooms have been established. In addition, each educational institution maintains a Book of Memory, in which students and schoolchildren write information about their great-grandfathers who fought. Thanks to this, they realize that the feat Soviet people accomplished is the feat of each family. We must remember this and do everything to preserve peace, so that our country is prosperous and sovereign."