14 public search associations help find previously unknown war graves in Belarus
Belarus has created a fairly well co-ordinated system of work in the field of perpetuation – as noted by Sergei Kornev, the Head of the Department for Perpetuating Memory of the Fatherland Defenders and War Victims of the Armed Forces, at a press conference dedicated to Day of National Remembrance of Victims of the Great Patriotic War and Genocide of Belarusian People which will be marked on June 22nd
“In addition to the military, representatives of executive committees, state and public organisations, including search public associations, are involved in the work to perpetuate the genocide and war victims. The Defence Ministry oversees the interaction between them, and the Department for Perpetuating Memory of the Fatherland Defenders and War Victims of the Armed Forces has even been created. The latter is truly unique. For some time, it was the only one on the post-Soviet space, but then Russia set up a similar unit,” Mr. Kornev said.
The 52nd separate specialised search battalion is engaged in field search operations in Belarus – working directly in the places of fighting or killing of prisoners of war and civilians.
As noted by the expert, a regulatory framework has been created in the republic, and the powers of government agencies and organisations, as well as public associations, have been defined. The spheres of responsibility for perpetuating the memory of the victims are distributed among them.
Co-operation with Belarus’ closest partners from the Russian Federation continues to develop. Over the past few years, representatives of Kazakhstan have been actively involved in this work: together with their Belarusian and Russian colleagues, they are searching for the previously unknown graves of war victims and soldiers.
“There are currently fourteen public search associations, clubs, groups and detachments operating in Belarus, which somehow interested in studying the history of not only their district or region, but also the country as a whole. They help us find new burial sites and conduct field search operations,” Mr. Kornev said, noting that almost all Belarusian regions are involved into this search work.
