Belarusian senators appeal to German Bundestag deputies
In connection with the non-invitation of Belarusian officials to the commemorative events dedicated to the anniversary of liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps, the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus has addressed the deputies of German Bundestag
The appeal reads:
The Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus has deeply regretted the decision of the leadership of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation not to invite Belarusian officials to the commemorative events dedicated to the 77th anniversary of liberation of these concentration camps.
Our country knows the price of Victory. Belarus, more than any other European state, suffered from the Great Patriotic War – with irreparable losses. The Nazis established a brutal regime of lawlessness, violence, robbery and bloody terror on the occupied Belarusian lands. Their goal was to ensure complete enslavement and robbery of people, brutal extermination of the population. Belarus was covered with a dense network of Nazi camps, ghettos, and prisons. The whole world knows the terrible addresses of the genocide of the Belarusian people: Khatyn, Dalva, Ozarichi, Shunevka, Trostenets...
Military and mass punitive actions led to tremendous human losses: every third Belarusian resident died during the war, and the total figure made around 3m people.
With a sacred attitude to those events, Belarusians have always sought and will strive for a peaceful settlement of any conflict.
We condemn the actions of the leadership of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation and demand to restore the opportunity to annually pay tribute to the prisoners of these concentration camps. This is our common tragedy and pain. We grieve for everyone who fell in the terrible heat of the war, and we will honour the memory of all the victims of Nazism in any case.
We urge our colleagues, German parliamentarians to resist such unfriendly actions and not allow situations of the kind to happen in the future. We are confident that through joint efforts we will be able to continue co-operation in the interests of peace and security in our region – to preserve historical memory and mutual reconciliation for the sake of the future.
