Belarus’ Foreign Ministry says lack of invitation to commemorate liberation of concentration camps in Germany is a direct insult

The Embassy of Belarus in Germany received an official letter from the Director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation informing on undesirability of the Belarusian diplomats’ participation in the commemorative events organised by Germany in connection to the liberation of these concentration camps.

The press secretary of Belarus’ Foreign Ministry, Anatoly Glaz, commented, “We believe this purely emotional and opportunistic decision cannot be justified by anything, taking into account the millions of victims of the Belarusian people during WWII and tens of thousands of Belarusian prisoners of various concentration camps in Germany, including Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora.”

“A lack of invitation for diplomats to such events is not a mere protest but a direct insult – primarily of the nations that made a decisive contribution to the defeat of fascism in Europe. It is actually a slap in the face of people who survived the horrors of fascist concentration camps,” Mr. Glaz added.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s official representative, Belarusian diplomats in Germany will in any case honour the memory of all victims of Nazism and prisoners of concentration camps, including Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora – as they did last year when no mass commemorative events were organised due to coronavirus restrictions.

"We sincerely hope that a Belarus-Germany dialogue on issues of historical memory and mutual reconciliation will continue in the future, while such emotional decisions are a one-time exception to the rule that will cause no irreparable damage to this field of interaction," Mr. Glaz emphasised.