Joint project of Kazakhstan’s Embassy and Belarus Segodnya Publishing House to mark 80th anniversary of Great Victory presented in Minsk

Kazakhstanis in Battles for Belarus joint project of the Embassy of Kazakhstan and the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, has been solemnly presented at the Kazakh Embassy in Minsk

No one in the family of the Soviet peoples remained indifferent to the tragedy of Belarusians who were the first to experience the horrors of the Great Patriotic War. It took three long years of hard times after the heroic defence of the Brest Fortress to defeat the Nazis in Operation Bagration. About 1 million 700 thousand sons and daughters of Kazakhstan selflessly fought together with Belarusians on the frontlines and in partisan detachments against the common enemy, and a third of them never returned home. This can hardly be forgotten…

The Great Patriotic War was named such because, among other things, every soldier and officer fought for their native land, for the common Fatherland, for the land where their beloved families lived. The war theme is always tragic, and it serves now as an edification for all people, as an incentive to cherish the memory of the unprecedented feat of the Soviet people and pass it over to new generations with the help of the most modern forms that are available and understandable to young people. With this in view, the Kazakhstanis in Battles for Belarus creative project was initiated, and its results are available at www.kazakhstanbelarus.by.

During the presentation of the project, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Timur Zhaxylykov noted, “Our countries are preparing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory together. Literally from the first days of the war, Kazakhstanis fought in the fiercest battles — defending the Brest Fortress, Minsk, Moscow and Leningrad, liberating Belarus and European countries. In addition, Kazakhstan provided the front with weapons, fuel, and ammunition. Nine out of ten bullets used by the Red Army during the war were cast from Kazakhstani lead. Today, more than ever, it is important to keep the memory of that war and the sacrifices of our older generation. The Embassy is constantly working to collect information about Kazakhstani soldiers. Many books have been published about the military path of our countrymen, but we live in the era of digital technologies, and the Internet has become the main channel for preserving and spreading the collective memory of mankind. Therefore, the idea arose to create a resource, thanks to which the accumulated information will be available to everyone who is interested in this period of the war. We are grateful to the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, who supported this idea, and to the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House for its implementation.”

Several tens of thousands of soldiers from Kazakhstan laid down their heads in battles on the territory of Belarus and were buried. At the cost of their lives, the children of the Great Steppe (as this republic is often called) fulfilled their military duty and remained devoted to their Motherland. More than 500 Kazakhstanis were named Soviet Union heroes, and the title was bestowed upon 84 of them for the liberation of Belarus. More than 100 soldiers became full cavaliers of the Order of Glory. Belarus and Kazakhstan remember!

The Kazakhstanis in Battles for Belarus project embraces information about 84 heroes who liberated the Belarusian land from the Nazi occupiers. It is likely to be developed further and supplemented with new facts.

The Kazakhstani diplomat stressed that the common memory of the last war is sacred for both countries, and it will always be like this. The graves of Kazakh heroes are always clean and well maintained in Belarus. This is especially important in today's controversial world, where Nazis can be called heroes and monuments to true patriots can be wiped off the face of the earth... Memory is alive, and it protects us. The graves are regularly visited by fellow countrymen: relatives and friends, representatives of official delegations from Kazakhstan. The work of search teams does not stop, thanks to which information about the missing persons appears. Just recently, a new monument was unveiled in the Dubrovno District of the Vitebsk Region, at the site of a military burial near the village of Shukhovtsy, where 35 Kazakhstani soldiers were buried. The data about them will also be digitised.

"Belarus shows an example of respect for the historical past, sincere respect for the memory of fallen soldiers," the diplomat stressed.

Actually, a unique platform is operational on the post-Soviet space: www.partizany.by. By now, its database – which is constantly being replenished – keeps information of 320 Kazakh partisans. All these people were ‘brave’, ‘courageous in battle’, ‘initiative’ – as the commanders of their detachments described them. In total, more than 70 nationalities are represented in the resource database, and 1,600 Kazakhstanis fought against the enemy as part of Belarusian partisan formations.

Dmitry Zhuk, the Director — Editor-in-Chief of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House, Deputy Chairman of the Permanent Commission of the Council of the Republic on International Affairs and National Security, stressed, “For Belarusians, the memory of the Great Patriotic War is a part of their genetic code, which we have no right to lose. This is because, as soon as this important link falls out, we will find ourselves on the verge of destroying our people. The memory of the war and the Victory of the Soviet people is truly sacred. Kazakhstanis in Battles for Belarus is our sincere and deep gratitude to those who helped us survive and preserve ourselves as a nation. I think the project has a good prospect for development.”