The history of World War II, unfortunately, is rich in tragic events associated with the merciless killing of civilians. Khatyn village, the history of its destruction still remain in the memory of the Belarusian people as an incredible act of crime against humanity. Scary ... Very scary ... After all, Khatyn could live ... The history of the tragedy will be briefly described in this article.
Khatyn: who burned?
History, especially its controversial moments, after the collapse of the USSR very often becomes the subject of various political speculations. For example, a version recently appeared that the Belarusian village of Khatyn was burned by Ukrainian nationalists who fought against the Red Army. Of course, each version has a right to exist, but historical facts speak of the baselessness of this version. The fact is that certain UPA groups (the Nakhtigal and SS-Galichina battalions) did indeed fight on the side of the Nazis, but it is known for sure that there were no Ukrainian nationalist units on this territory.
This means that there are no other options but to say that the village of Khatyn was burned by the Germans and policemen.
The reasons for the tragedy of Khatyn
On the night before the unfortunate tragic day of March 22, 1943, a partisan detachment spent the night in the village. This fact alone could anger the Nazis and policemen. After spending the night, the partisans advanced early in the morning towards the village of Pleskovichi. This is where the event occurred that caused the village to disappear from the face of the earth and from geographical maps. On the way, our partisans encountered a detachment of policemen, with whom German officers moved, including the 1936 Olympic champion Hans Velke. A shootout ensued, during which many partisans and Germans died, including officers. Among the dead was the above-mentioned Olympic champion.
Of course, the partisans did the right thing in engaging in battle with this detachment, because in a direct collision with the enemy it is impossible to behave differently. The Germans saw them, that is, the fascist command received information that there was a large detachment of partisans in this area. Such reports usually led to an aggravation of the situation in the area where the partisans were seen.
What did the Germans come up with?
Such courage of partisan detachments often ended in grief for the settlements surrounding the clash. Recovering from the battle that had taken place and quickly remembering the dead, the Germans immediately began to think about revenge. In this German detachment, one of the most cruel German punishers, the SS Sturmbunführer Dirlewanger, turned out to be. Therefore, a soft decision could not be expected. The Germans decided to act according to their traditional method: to burn the nearest settlement to the site of the recent battle. It turned out to be the village of Khatyn, the history of the tragedy of which is known to the entire civilized world and serves as a vivid example of the terrible crimes of German fascism against humanity in general and the Belarusian people in particular.
How was the massacre of civilians?
Khatyn Village is a relatively small settlement in Belarus. The Germans destroyed him on March 22, 1943. Civilians got up this morning and began to do their own household, not suspecting that for the vast majority of them this day would be the last in their life. A German detachment appeared in the village unexpectedly. It became clear to what was about to happen to the residents when they started to drive them away not to the square for a regular meeting, but to the barn of the former collective farm (by the way, in some sources there is information that the barn was not a collective farm at all, but one of the residents of Khatyn Joseph of Kaminsky). No one received mercy, because they even drove sick people who could barely get out of bed. Traitors mocked such people even before the moment of burning, because the whole way of sick people to the barn was accompanied by blows of arms butts on the back. Young children are also victims. For example, a resident of Khatyn, Vera Yaskevich, was brought to the barn with her son in her arms. He was only 7 weeks old! And how many year-old children died from the Nazi fire ...
All the villagers were driven into the barn, the doors of the shed were closed by bolts. Then they laid mountains of straw around the entire perimeter of the barn and set it on fire. The barn was wooden and caught fire almost immediately. The chances of people to survive on fire were minimal, because there were three compartments in the barn, separated by wooden partitions of thick logs. Such is the sad fate of a village called Khatyn. We hope that everyone who burned this settlement now is clear ... All possible sources have been analyzed, including German military documents and Soviet newspapers of that time, so the German footprint is simply obvious.
How many people have died?
It is known that before the war there were 26 houses in the village. Based on the fact that many families, according to modern concepts, were large, it can be estimated that the population of the village could be about 200 people or even more. It is impossible to say exactly about the death toll even today, because different sources provide information that contradicts each other. For example, the Germans claim to have killed 90 people. Some Soviet newspapers wrote that the village of Khatyn, whose tragedy became immediately known throughout the USSR, lost 150 people. Most likely, the last figure is most true. But in any case, in the near future, we are unlikely to know exactly how many people died in the village: history, perhaps, will one day put all the dots over i in this tragedy. We are well aware that only excavations at the conflagration site can bring us closer to the truth.
What does it mean to survive after Khatyn?
Everyone loves life and seeks to live as long as possible and raise their children. People burning in the barn fought for themselves. They knew that even if they could escape, the probability of survival was not high, but everyone dreamed of escape and escape into the forest from the bullets of the Nazi rifles. The villagers managed to tear down the doors of the barn and some of them were able to run out into the wild. The picture was terrible: people in clothes burning on them looked like a fire running across the field. The punishers saw that these poor Khatyn people were doomed to die from burns, but still shot at them with rifles.
Fortunately, some residents of Khatyn managed to survive. Three children in general managed not to get into the barn and hide in the forest. These are children from the Yaskevich family (Vladimir and Sofya, both children born in 1930) and Alexander Zhelobkovich, their peer. Desperate briskness and speed saved their life that day.
Of those who were in the shed, 3 more people also survived: the owner of the "bloody shed" Joseph Kaminsky, Anton Baranovsky (11 years old) and Viktor Zhelobkovich (8 years old). The stories of their salvation are similar, but slightly different. Kaminsky was able to get out of the barn when the villagers tore down the doors. He was almost completely burnt, immediately lost consciousness, and came to himself late at night, when the punitive detachment had already left the village. His mother saved Vitya Zhelobkovich, because when they fled from the barn, she kept him in front of her. They shot her in the back. Having received a mortal wound, the woman fell on her son, who was simultaneously wounded in the arm. Vitya was able to hold out wounded before the Germans left and the inhabitants of the neighboring village came to them. Anton Baranovsky was wounded in the leg, fell and pretended to be dead.
Khatyn: history destroyed by punitive
No matter how many official victims, unborn children should be considered. We explain this in more detail. According to official figures, 75 children were burned in the barn. Each of them, if they were alive, would have children. Since migration between settlements at that time was not very active, then, most likely, families would be created between them. The Soviet homeland lost about 30-35 cells of society. Each family could have several children. It is also worth considering that in the barn young girls must have also burned down (the guys were all sent to the army), that is, the potential population loss can be much greater.
Conclusion
The memory of many Ukrainian and Belarusian villages, including such a village as Khatyn, whose history ended on March 22, 1943, should always live in society. Some political forces, including in the post-Soviet space, are trying to justify the crimes of the Nazis. We must not follow these neo-fascist forces, because Nazism and its ideas will never lead to the tolerant coexistence of nations around the world.