Orsha residents paid tribute to the memory of the Khatyń tragedy

On the 83rd anniversary of the tragedy that occurred on March 22, 1943, in the Belarusian village of Khatyn in the Lohoysk district, the residents of Orsha mourn for her sisters, erased from the face of the earth along with their inhabitants.

We will never forget and never forgive the cruelty, inhumanity, and lawlessness of the enemy on our land. We remember this, and in this lies our strength. This was stated by the participants of the memorial rally held at the monument at the site of the villages of Bortniki and Narkovshchina, burned by German occupiers during the Great Patriotic War.

The event was attended by the chairwoman of the Orsha District Council of Deputies, Inna Khomutovskaya, deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Gleb Gulenkov, prosecutor of the Orsha District, Anatoly Avsyuk, representatives of law enforcement agencies, public associations and parties, labor collectives, enterprises and organizations of the district, and student youth.

The mournful history of Khatyn is not unique. The fate of Khatyn was shared by 12,000 villages across Belarus. In the Orsha region, nine villages were irretrievably destroyed. Seven of them were rebuilt, while the settlements of Bortniki and Narkovshchina were never restored.

When studying archival materials, it was also established that among other victims of Nazi terror were the villages of Balotavichy and Verkhovye of the First of May, now of the Zubrevichy village council, where the fascists destroyed dozens of households. The fate of the village of Sedrychino of the Vysokovsky village council was no less tragic. The village of Lisuny (now the agrotown of Lisuny) of the Zadrovyeu village council was also subjected to destruction. According to archival data, 15 houses were burned there, – said the prosecutor of the Orsha District, Anatoly Avsyuk.

In memory of the victims of fascism, the archpriest of the first Orsha district churches, Father Vadim Kotov, held a prayer service. Participants of the rally laid wreaths and flowers at the monument.

Ludmila MARSHALOVICH.
Photo by Gnedkov Sergey.

Source: orshanka