Дубровенский районный исполнительный комитет

11 October 2023

Young forensic experts from the Vitebsk region visited the excavation site of a mass grave in Uruchye

Sergei Shikunets, Deputy Head of the Department for Supervision of the Investigation of Particularly Important Criminal Cases of the General Prosecutor's Office, spoke about the progress of the investigation into the criminal case of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War, as well as about the legal assessment of crimes against humanity.

“In the course of the ongoing work, 84 new sisters of Khatyn have already been identified - villages that were completely destroyed along with their inhabitants and have not been revived,”

Sergei Shikunets cited terrible figures. – Numerous facts of mass extermination of the civilian population, which was carried out by barbaric methods and means, became known - executions, gas chambers, gallows, burning. At least 560 places of forced detention and extermination of the population have been established, including concentration camps and ghettos. Of these, the Minsk ghetto was considered the largest in Europe. The largest not only in Belarus, but throughout the occupied Soviet territory was the Trostenets death camp, where it was previously assumed that about 206 thousand people died, but today it has become known that at least twice as many were killed there.

Studying numerous archival materials and conducting conversations with local residents, we learned that in the Uruchye tract in 1942 - 1943, the extermination of people was put on stream: they were taken out of the city and shot. Currently, 11 graves have been found, 4 of them have been excavated. According to available data, the remains of more than 57 thousand citizens are buried there. Forensic experts from the State Committee for Forensic Expertise joined the study. After they carry out examinations, the remains of people are planned to be reburied near the Mass Grave monument on the 9th km of the Moscow Highway. The first grave discovered in 2021 was about 20 meters long and five meters deep. More than 8 thousand prisoners of war and civilians, including children, are buried here. Among the remains were found household items: dishes, combs, glasses, watches, shoes.

– Excavations will continue until all the circumstances of the atrocities that occurred during the war are established

. Nazi criminals involved in the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War are being identified, their actions will be given a legal assessment in order to protect our history and show everyone our historical truth,” Sergei Shikunets noted. – We will make every effort so that the tragedy of our people is known and remembered not only by all Belarusians, but also by the whole world. The time has come to tell our descendants what happened on our land during the Great Patriotic War, how their grandfathers defended their Motherland.