Press releases

Myasnikovich, Andreichenko lay flowers at Masyukovshchina war memorial in Minsk

MINSK, 1 July (BelTA) – Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich and Chairman of the House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko have visited the Masyukovshchina memorial complex where they laid flowers at the monument as part of the Belarus Remembers. We Remember Everyone campaign, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus will always remember the victims of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War. The sacrifice our people had to make is irretrievable. The war affected nearly every family. In this place over 80,000 Soviet people were killed or tortured to death. These scars will remain on our heart forever. The Belarusian people will always remember the sacrifice made in order to defend our Fatherland. This memory is eternal,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. 
 
He added that the war affected his family, too. “My father fought in the war, he took part in the liberation of Warsaw, the Battle of Berlin, and he got ice burns. He passed away at 67. This was truly a great act of bravery of the Soviet people,” he added.

Vladimir Andreichenko emphasized that unfortunately there are many places in Belarus where the Nazi committed crimes against civilians. “First of all, these are Khatyn, Shunevka in Dokshitsy District in my constituency, Trostenets. It is important that we remember all the victims. We should do everything we can to preserve the truth about the Great Patriotic War, so that the lessons of this war will never be forgotten, so that the history will not be rewritten. It is of great importance, in particular, for younger generations, for the youth to realize that the only way to strengthen our country is to work hard and study well. This will help prevent such tragedies in the future,” he said.

The flowers at the Masyukovshchina memorial complex were also laid by Vice Chairperson of the Council of the Republic Marianna Shchetkina, heads of standing commissions of the Council of the Republic and the House of Representatives.

The Masyukovshchina memorial complex is a tribute to prisoners of war and civilians killed during the Great Patriotic War in Stalag-352, one of the biggest death camps in the Nazi-occupied territory of the USSR. The prisoners were subject to inhumane treatment and systematic torture. People were kept in barracks, barns and stalls. The death camp was overcrowded; therefore, many prisoners had to live in the open where they died of exposure, starvation and diseases. Over 80,000 soldiers and officers of the Red Army, as well as civilians driven from Minsk and surrounding villages were killed in Stalag-352 from July 1941 to 3 July 1944. From December 1943 to June 1944 the Nazi kept here Italian soldiers and officers who fought on the side of the Soviet Union.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks