Alexander Subbotin laid flowers at the mass grave of liberators in Surazh
– The partisan movement originated here, there were the world-famous "Surazh Gates". Many heroic people fought for freedom and prosperity. This settlement was one of the first in the country to be liberated from the Nazi invaders, – noted Alexander Subbotin. – It is significant that today, during the community clean-up day, we have the opportunity not only to work for the benefit of society but also to pay tribute to the memory of our ancestors who gave their lives for our peaceful sky, freedom, and independence.
Representatives of the regional, district authorities, enterprises, organizations, public associations, and institutions laid flowers at military burial site No. 4439 in the urban settlement of Surazh. More than 390 soldiers and partisans are buried here.
Reference "VV". During the war years, more than 2.5 thousand civilians were killed in the Surazh rural council, 716 people died on the fronts of the war, and 790 were partisans. Over 1.7 thousand were driven into fascist slavery, and only 934 people returned. In the winter of 1943, the Nazis burned all the buildings in the Surazh district, and only two houses remained in Surazh itself. The partisan movement originated in the Surazh zone. Here, in February 1942, the front line between Velizh and Usvyaty was broken through. This gap was called the "Surazh (Vitebsk) Gates," which served as a lifeline for thousands of children, women, and elderly people escaping Nazi atrocities, for evacuating the wounded, and for reinforcing the ranks of the Red Army. For the courage and resilience shown by the defenders of the urban settlement of Surazh during the Great Patriotic War, in 2010, by the Decree of the President of Belarus, the urban settlement was awarded the pennant "For Courage and Resilience during the Great Patriotic War."
"Vitebskiye Vesti"