Events

23 Apr 2026

Belarus urges joint fight against Nazism glorification at OSCE

An archive photo

MINSK, 23 April (BelTA) - Belarus calls for uniting the efforts of people of good will to combat the glorification of Nazism and the falsification of history, the Belarusian delegation stated at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, BelTA reports citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Belarusian delegation thanked their Russian colleagues for drawing the Permanent Council’s attention to the topic of the genocide of the Soviet people committed by the Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War.

“We hope that today’s discussion can help our Western colleagues understand why people in Russia, Belarus and other CIS countries still treat the topic of this long-past war with such intensity, pain and reverence, why they so carefully preserve the memory of the victims, and why they so insistently speak about the need to combat Nazism in all its manifestations,” the Belarusian delegation said. “The answer is simple. For us, the horrific crimes that the inhuman regimes of the Axis countries, their European allies, and satellites committed against the Soviet people will never expire.”

“This topic is not closed for us by the verdicts of the Nuremberg Trial. It is not closed by the payment of reparations. For the peoples of our countries, it constantly beats in the heart like an alarm bell of sorrow, an alarm bell of warning, an alarm bell of determination to prevent a repeat of the horrors of the past war.”

The Belarusian diplomats noted that on Belarusian land, the Nazis and their accomplices pursued a deliberate policy of destroying the civilian population. They sought to clear the territory of its native population and turn it into ‘living space’.

“The methods of the occupation authorities included mass killings, burning of settlements, starvation and epidemics. They used torture and medical experiments, destroyed children, and separated families. Belarus experienced all forms of genocide. During the occupation, about 3 million people perished on the territory of modern Belarus. Hundreds of thousands were taken into slavery. More than 9,500 villages were burned down along with their residents. There were 578 death camps operating on Belarusian territory. The largest mass extermination site in the country during the Nazi occupation was the Trostenets death camp. It ranks alongside Auschwitz, Majdanek and Treblinka. It has been established that over half a million people died in the Trostenets death camp alone,” the Belarusian delegation noted.

It was noted that for the past five years, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus has been investigating the criminal case regarding the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. During the investigation, over 21,000 people have been questioned. Nearly 8,000 of whom are victims, including former prisoners of death camps established by the Nazis both in Belarus and beyond its borders. Previously unknown mass burial sites have been discovered.

In 2022, a law on the genocide of the Belarusian people was adopted. This law establishes the legal recognition of genocide and introduces liability for its denial. The Supreme Court of Belarus has handed down six convictions for the genocide of the Belarusian people.

“We consistently uphold the preservation of historical truth. We oppose attempts to revise the outcomes of World War II. We resolutely reject attempts to equate victims with executioners, and liberators with aggressors,” the Belarusian delegation stated.

Belarus views the preservation of historical memory as both a duty of the state and an obligation of every citizen. Belarus intends to continue to persistently convey the truth about the genocide to the international community.

The Belarusian delegation emphasized the importance of uniting the efforts of people of good will in the fight against the glorification of Nazism and the falsification of history, and calls for respect for the memory of all victims of the past world war without division by national, religious, or other grounds.