The memory of fascism victims was honored at the "Shunevka" memorial complex in Dokshitsy district
On March 22, 1943, the Belarusian village of Khatyn was burned down with its inhabitants. It became a symbol of the tragedy of the entire nation and, at the same time, evidence of the atrocities of the German invaders who came to our land. Exactly two months later, during the punitive operation "Cottbus," the enemies burned down the village of Shunevka. The tragic fate united these two villages.
According to Alla Korolevich, a junior researcher at the Begoml Museum of People's Glory, on May 15, 1943, Shunevka changed hands five times during the day in the course of battles. As a result, the partisans won. But on May 22, 1943, at dawn, the German-fascist invaders returned to the village. All adults were herded into a barn and burned alive. Infants aged 1 to 7 years were thrown alive into a well, and grenades were thrown in after them. The village perished, 66 people died.
– The land in this place still exudes tears and pain today, – noted Vladimir Penin, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. – This monument is a symbol of the courage, resilience, and grief of our Belarusian people. The lessons of the Great Patriotic War must not be forgotten. We must do everything to ensure that our youth, future generations, remember this.
By the way, during the war years, 132 villages were burned down in the Dokshitsy district, three of them, including Shunevka, were never rebuilt.
– Holding commemorative events as part of the republican campaign contributes to the preservation of generational continuity, serves as a reminder of the inadmissibility of repeating that terrible tragedy, – noted the Chairman of the Dokshitsy District Executive Committee Oleg Kovalenok in his speech. – Unfortunately, with each year, there are fewer and fewer veterans who brought us the Great Victory, those who had to restore the destroyed national economy from the ruins, those who rebuilt the villages.
Great Patriotic War veteran Valentin Ivanovich Yakushevsky addressed the youth with a plea to remember the heroism, courage of grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and the events of the Great Patriotic War.
Veterans of labor, representatives of the district's work collectives, public associations, and participants of the large-scale "Memory Lives" motor rally, which started in Novopolotsk, were present at the rally.