News & Events in Belarus

Lukashenko: Taking good care of memory of Nazism victims is part of the Belarusian national idea

MINSK, 28 March (BelTA) – Careful attitude to memory of victims of Nazism has become part of the Belarusian national idea. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement as Array of Names, a monument to Austrian victims of Nazism in the memorial complex Trostenets, was unveiled on 28 March, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “Memory of those, who have fallen fighting for the freedom and independence of their native country, fighting to free the planet from the brown plague, memory of victims of Nazism is sacred to our people. Taking good care of it has become part of the national idea.”

According to Alexander Lukashenko, the recognition of lessons of World War Two is also reflected in Belarus’ peace-loving foreign policy, in the persistent and genuine desire of Belarusians to make their own contribution to the resolution of conflicts, to the lowering of tensions by facilitating dialogue and cooperation in the region and the world.

“Peoples of Belarus and Austria just like all the nations of Europe have survived the common bloody tragedy of World War Two. Millions of our citizens fell victims to the Nazi policy of genocide. Today we stand united by the pain of memory and by the call of conscience, by the moral and human duty, by responsibility for the fate of future generations,” the head of state stressed.

Alexander Lukashenko remarked that crimes committed by the Hitler troops strike people as surpassing any bounds of cruelty. Mad, antihuman ideas of fascists took shape as the state policy of the Third Reich. Detailed plans were developed in order to expand their lebensraum to the east. The troops relied on accomplishments of science and technology and horrified with their pedantry. Racism recognized the existence of millions of people as unnecessary.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “It is no accident that Nazi concentration camps are referred to as death factories. They killed people in job lots. One of Europe’s largest ‘factories’ of the kind existed here, in Maly Trostenets. It is here that blood of many tens of thousands of innocent victims was spilled, including citizens deported from European countries, civilians, members of partisan units, underground resistance movement, and Soviet POWs.”

The president stated that the years of the German occupation represent one of the most tragic pages in Belarus’ history. “This is why the day our land was liberated from the German invaders is our key state holiday, Independence Day. It is as important as Victory Day,” the head of state stressed.

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