"We remember this, and in this lies our strength" - speech by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at the requiem rally in Khatyn
Dear compatriots!
Guests of Belarus!
The tragedy of Khatyn and thousands of villages and towns with the same fate is an unceasing pain in the hearts of Belarusians, of all Soviet people. Today, we, representatives of different generations, religious denominations, philosophical and political views, have gathered together to honor the memory of the innocent and defend the truth about that war.
This truth is cruel, this memory is heavy. Think about it: the occupiers and their accomplices, the policemen, burned down 9,200 Belarusian villages. Of these, more than five thousand were burned down with their inhabitants. And we know how it all begins: with ideas of racial and genetic, or any other, superiority of some peoples over others, with division into superior and inferior. What is frightening is that these theories still find their adherents all over the world today. But, thank God, the fascist ideology is alien to our Belarusians, whose genetic memory has become a true national immunity.
This memory holds much pain and suffering, it contains tragic historical experience. It is a fact: World War II was not just a war, it was a systematic extermination of our Slavic peoples.
And on this memorable evening, on the eve of another anniversary of the Khatyn tragedy, I would like to address those who consciously try to revive the symbols of Nazism. Let them be a few individuals (as they say, there's always one in the family), but unfortunately, there are such people in modern Belarus as well.
I appeal to all those who are convinced that fascism "brought civilization to our land"; who glorify murderers; who worship the white-red-white flags under which the genocide of the Belarusian people was carried out. We have taken up this issue, and we will prove and show the whole world what genocide is and that those who try to teach us how to live today, at the very least, have no right to do so. To all of you, lost and deluded, I say: "Go and see!" Go to Khatyn, Borki, Oza, Dalva, Usakino, Shunevka, Ozarychi, to the memorials "Trostyanets", "Yama", "Krasny Bereg".
See: through the eyes of a child who survived under the body of his murdered mother; through the eyes of children abandoned to die in a well; through the eyes of a shot pregnant woman who never knew the joy of motherhood; through the eyes of a father who pulled his dead son from the ashes; through the eyes of helpless old people who were hanged.
Go and listen to the Khatyn bell, in the ringing of which the cries of children, the weeping of mothers, and the bitter grief of fathers of millions of Belarusians merged into one. Belarusians who experienced inhuman suffering, but were not subdued and not defeated. We must always remember this and not be afraid, on great holidays, no matter what trouble befalls us (the COVID pandemic or other illnesses), to come on the bright Victory Day and pay tribute to those who died for us. Because if they had not died, we would not be here.
And let these voices from the past remind every generation of how fragile peace is, how precious human life is, and how easily all this can be lost. And as long as this bell rings, Belarus remembers.
We will never forget the terrible pages of the Great Patriotic War history. We will never forgive the cruelty, inhumanity, and atrocities of the enemy on our land. We remember this, and in this lies our strength.
Eternal memory to the killed, tortured, and dismembered. And let us bow our heads and honor their memory with a minute of silence.
Lukashenko: The genetic memory of Belarusians has become a true national immunity
"Go and See!" - Lukashenko addressed those who consciously try to revive the symbols of Nazism
