Belarus President Marks Day of National Memory for WWII Victims and Genocide

📣 The President of Belarus has addressed fellow citizens on the occasion of the Day of National Memory for the Victims of the Great Patriotic War and the Genocide of the Belarusian People.

📑 "06/22/41 — digits burned into the memory of the Belarusian people as the most terrible date in history. The date of the invasion into the country of the Hitler army, gathered from across Europe, with the aim of conquering living space for the Nazis who declared themselves a 'master race.' This marked the beginning of large-scale cleansing of Eastern European territories, with human experiments, executions, torture, and mass killings of defenseless civilians — the elderly, women, children.

The war came to our land exactly 85 years ago. It claimed the life of every third person and shattered the fates of millions of Belarusians. Year after year, on this June morning, we remember how the Brest Fortress, fortified regions, and cities stood to the death, disrupting the plans of Nazi Germany’s blitzkrieg. We remember how, for 1132 long days, the occupied republic fought, bleeding with the blood of unconquered and unbroken heroes — underground fighters, partisans, and civilians.

Our memory is the shield with which we restrain aggressive revanchism. The investigation of the criminal case on the genocide of the Belarusian people is an act of just judgment over crimes that have no statute of limitations.

We, the descendants of the victors, are obliged to always defend historical truth, preserve the memory of the heroes of that war, and instill in our children immunity against ideologies of exclusivity and national superiority, teaching them to take pride in the great feat of the Soviet people, who gave present generations life, peace, and freedom.

✍🏻 Eternal memory to the innocent victims of the Great Patriotic War, eternal glory to the hero-victors.