The Great Patriotic War left a terrible mark on the Belarusian land and in the hearts of all its inhabitants. Numerous monuments erected throughout the republic still remind of it. But perhaps the most famous and popular among tourists is the place in the Logoisk district of the Minsk region, where the Khatyn memorial complex is located. He became a symbol of the great tragedy and endless courage of the Soviet people, who managed to defend their independence in the mortal struggle.
How it was
1943, March 22. The fascists burst into the small village of Khatyn (a total of 26 yards) and began to drive all its inhabitants to the collective farm shed. These were old men, women, children who did not know that on the night before the partisans fired at a German convoy and killed an officer. The barn was doused with gasoline and set on fire. The people in it began to choke with smoke. They squeezed out the door and rushed to run. Parents tried to save the children, but everything was in vain. The Nazis shot everyone who managed to get out of the barn. 149 civilians died that terrible day. And the village itself was scorched to the ground, and now only the memorial complex indicates the place where Khatyn is located.
Living witnesses to the tragedy
Only four children and one adult then managed to escape. Two girls quietly reached the forest, where they were found by peasants from a neighboring village. But soon they died during the destruction by the fascists of Hvorosten - the place where Khatyn is located serves as a reminder of six hundred and twenty-eight villages whose inhabitants were also burned alive.
Seven-year-old Vitya Zhelobkovich was covered with her body by a dying mother. He lay under the corpse until the Germans left and survived. And the twelve-year-old Anton Baranovsky, wounded in the leg, the punishers took for the dead. The boys were picked up and the peasants left the neighboring villages.
Of the adults, only Joseph Kaminsky, a local blacksmith, escaped. A fifty-six-year-old man woke up in the middle of the night and found his son. But a wound in the stomach and severe burns were fatal. The boy died in the arms of his father. This figure of a blacksmith rises on the way to the place where the Khatyn memorial is located.
Complex construction
The decision to perpetuate the memory of Belarusian villages destroyed by the Nazis was made in 1966. Soon, a competition for the best project was announced, in which architects Levin L., Gradov Yu., Zankovich V. and sculptor Selikhanov S. won. Together they came up with a model of the Khatyn complex, where, in addition to the village itself, there are several interconnected exhibits.
In the summer of 1969, the grand opening of the memorial took place, in the construction of which the whole Soviet country took part. And since then it has been one of the most magnificent monuments to the victims of the war.
Location of the Khatyn memorial complex
Where is the monument located? Almost every adult resident of Belarus will answer this question.
Minsk-Vitebsk highway, 54th km. Immediately at the entrance there is a photo-documentary exhibition, in each of the four halls of which there is compelling evidence of the atrocities of the Nazis.
In the center of the first part of the memorial, which is the layout of the village of Khatyn, stands the “Unconquered Man”. This is a six-meter bronze sculpture, the only one in the complex. To her right is the roof of the barn, in which people burned alive. On the left is a mass grave with a crown of memory and broken words: the conversion of the fallen and the living to each other.
Part of the complex where the village of Khatyn is located
The developers of the memorial placed 26 symbolic courtyards in this territory. In place of each house - a crown of logs and an obelisk resembling a chimney, with a sign (the names of the dead are imprinted on it) and a bell. The latter ring simultaneously twice a minute. The gate leading from the courtyard to the street, lined with gray plates, is always open (a sign of hospitality of the dead owners). Four symbolic wells, established at the places of their real existence, supplement the picture.
"Village Cemetery"
185 ashes, in the center of each - a tongue of flame and an urn with earth. And also the name of the village and the area where it was located. After the war in Belarus, 186 settlements were not restored, including Khatyn (where the entire memorial complex is located). The only “village cemetery” in the world recalls them.
Another element of the complex is the “trees of life", which bear the names of 433 villages that suffered the same fate during the war. But unlike the first, they were revived to life.
In memory of all the dead Belarusians
No less important is that part of the Khatyn complex, where the “Wall of memory” and the Eternal Flame are located.
Every fourth resident of the republic suffered a martyrdom during the war years. This is reminded by 4 indentations next to the Eternal Flame: only in three of them, as a symbol of standing, birches grow. And on the “Wall of Memory” the names of places of mass destruction of people and concentration camps are knocked out - there are 260 in all.
How to get there
From Minsk to the place "Khatyn", where the historical and memorial complex is located, you can go on a sightseeing bus. To do this, contact the travel agency (bureau). You can buy tickets at the station. The advantages of this option are that the trip will be accompanied by the story of a professional guide.
There will be no difficulties for those who decide to get to Khatyn by their own transport. The signs will clearly indicate the road, and the information on the official website will allow you to get acquainted in advance with the photo documentary exposure mode and the interactive map of the complex.
Not far from the Khatyn memorial are its branches: Dalva (on the site of the burned village) and the Mound of Glory (dedicated to completing the operation to free the republic from the enemy).