Defence Minister: scales of Belarusians’ tragedy in war years much greater than previously assumed
At a recent meeting of the joint board of the Belarusian and Russian defence ministries, Belarus’ Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin thanked Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu for the tremendous work done on declassifying archival documents of the Defence Ministry and placing them in the public domain, Belarus’ Defence Ministry reports in its Telegram channel
"This has enabled the Belarusian Defence Ministry, together with the Prosecutor General's Office, to shed light on many unknown facts and events in the framework of the investigation of the criminal case of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War, and also to find previously unknown places of mass executions of civilians and Red Army soldiers," Mr. Khrenin said.
The Defence Minister noted that, during the investigation of the criminal case, the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus interrogated more than 17 thousand witnesses, including about 8 thousand prisoners of concentration and death camps. In addition, more than 400 places of mass destruction of civilians located in almost every district of the country have been inspected.
"The evidence obtained during the investigation of the criminal case suggests that the scale of the tragedy of the Belarusian people is much larger than previously assumed. It has been established that, during the occupation of Belarus, more than 3 million civilians and prisoners of war were killed, more than 200 cities were destroyed, more than 11 thousand villages were burned down to ashes, about 380 thousand people were taken into German slavery," Mr. Khrenin informed.
The Defence Minister also recalled that 560+ death camps operated on the territory of Belarus, and 546 thousand people were killed in the Trostenets concentration camp alone. At least 90 thousand Jews were killed in the Minsk ghetto. In addition, information has become available confirming that more than 2.5 thousand previously unknown villages were burnt down.
