Lukashenko instructed to build new museum in Khatyn ahead of tragedy’s 80th anniversary
During the visit to the Khatyn State Memorial Complex, the President of Belarus was informed about the stages of major repairs, modernisation and restoration of the facility, as well as plans to construct a museum in Khatyn
Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that next year marks the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, and by this date everything must be put in order from Minsk to Khatyn, including roads.
“All construction works must be completed by this time,” he instructed.
The Head of State also gave instructions on the construction of the museum, warning about the inadmissibility of European renovation here.
“Simplify it to the maximum,” underlined the President. “The main thing is the exposition that will be there. I want people’s hearts broken already before they walk here.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that the works should be started in the near future, “By May 9th, report me about the dates, plans, and expert evaluations. I understand that we will be able to build but let’s be careful in equipping it. We must do everything for this anniversary. We need to start immediately, the funding will be provided.”
The concept proposes the construction of a one-story building, covering a total area of 1,000 square metres with a roundabout through six exhibition halls.
* The project envisages the museum facade to be made taking into account the general architecture of the complex and using modern visualisation technologies. On one side of the central entrance, it is proposed to install the name of the museum, on the other – a dynamically lit screen.
* The exhibition space of the halls gradually introduces into the history of major military conflicts and tragedies of the civilian population. The central element of the entire exposition is the ‘bloody stream’, symbolising human sacrifices of Belarus’ entire history.
* Hall No. 1 – The Tree of History – covers the period of military campaigns and wars that took place on the Belarusian land in the period from the 10th to the 20th centuries.
* Hall No. 2 – The Beginning of the War – demonstrates the violation of the usual way of people’s peaceful life, the first victims, the destruction of cities, the separation of families. The perception of the tragedy is supplemented with a holographic image of a little girl, telling visitors how she found her way in a concentration camp and how they took her blood. An information panel is installed in the hall, providing data about the origin of fascism and Nazism, World War II and the Great Patriotic War.
* Hall No. 3 – Occupation – reveals the theme of the ghetto, the Holocaust, concentration camps, mass executions, occupation orders and the life of the civilian population in these conditions.
* Hall No. 4 – Burned Villages – is dedicated to the topic of punitive operations and tragic events in the settlements that were destroyed together with their population. Alongside the installations, dynamically lit screens are installed on all sides, being used as a virtual space to recreate the situation of people being in a burning barn.
* Hall No. 5 – Come and See – demonstrates the historical studies of the tragedy of war and its embodiment in the artistic images of art and cinema.
* Hall No. 6 – Memory – is a place of worship for all the victims of the civilian population of the Republic of Belarus and will include the names of all settlements with the number of human losses, both burned and not included in the Khatyn Memorial Complex, as well as those revived after the war.
Director of the Khatyn State Memorial Complex, Artur Zelsky, reported to the Head of State that the memorial complex is planned to be overhauled with modernisation and restoration elements. The first phase of the construction is scheduled for 2022. It includes the cleaning of The Unconquered Man sculpture, the repair of the pedestal, of the Roof of the Barn monument and the Round of Logs of Memory memorial, alongside the restoration of the granite slabs of the Last Road. During the second stage of the construction, it is planned to repair the Cemetery of Villages and Trees of Life memorials, as well as concrete fences of burial places, urns with soil. Works are also scheduled for this year. The third stage envisages the repair of the illumination of the central walkway and the sound design of the memorial.
