RESULTS OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE BELARUSIAN PEOPLE TO THE COMMON VICTORY
Victory day is one of the most revered holidays in our country. This is quite natural – historical memory at all times serves as the basis of national consciousness, which is crucial for the development of countries, the viability of peoples and States. The Belarusian people cherish their history, and the most fateful pages of more than a thousand years of history of the people of Belarus are connected with the twentieth century. This was stated by the Head of state Alexander Lukashenko on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders: “The memory of the great Patriotic war is inviolable and sacred for us. Yes, our history began more than a thousand years ago, but it could have ended in the 40s of the last century, if not for the heroism of our Soviet people.”
Alexander Lukashenko constantly emphasizes: “Victory is sacred! And you can only touch it with clean hands and a clean soul.”
All the more outrageous is the situation when, decades later, our young people are trying to convince them that it was not the fascists who came to us with a sword, but we unleashed that terrible war.
The further the war years go into history, the more effort is required to protect the historical truth from the influence of political conjuncture. Several generations have already grown up who know about the great Patriotic war at best from textbooks and films. The seven and a half decades that have passed since the great Victory have convincingly shown what an invaluable role the victorious generation played in the fate of humanity, in preserving spirituality, and saving entire peoples from destruction.
Historical truth about the role of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in the outbreak of the World war II.
Contrary to historical truth, principles of morality, and international law, the main cause of war has recently been declared the German-Soviet Treaty of August 23, 1939, which was not done even during the cold war.
When we talk about signing this Treaty, we need to understand the international situation that has formed at the time of its conclusion. On the eve of 1939, the threat of a large-scale war was clearly brewing in the world, which resulted from the military and political plans and concrete actions of Nazi Germany.
The main European countries – France, and especially great Britain – actually carried out the so-called “policy of appeasement” of the aggressor, which was expressed in the hope of making concessions to Hitler’s Germany to prevent war in Europe.
Great Britain and France allowed the” Anschluss ” of Austria (i.e. its incorporation into Germany). It was also planned to satisfy the appetites of the Third Reich at the expense of the allies, despite mutual obligations in the form of signed agreements.
The next victim of Germany was Czechoslovakia. As a result of the Treaty signed on the night of September 29-30, 1938 in Munich, great Britain and France approved the transfer of the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia to Germany.
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It is noteworthy that the future victim of Nazi Germany – Poland – took part in the occupation of Czechoslovakia, capturing the so-called Teszynska region, and blocked attempts to help Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union. Poland refused to allow Soviet ground troops to pass through its territory to Czechoslovakia and to provide air space.
Further occupation of all Czechoslovakia was only a matter of time and diplomatic casuistry of Nazi Germany.
The Munich agreement clearly demonstrated the use of double standards by great Britain and France, as well as their willingness to sacrifice their allies.
The situation on the Eastern borders was also alarming. Japan sought to expand its influence in China, Mongolia, and the far East, viewing these territories as part of the Japanese Empire. From the spring to the end of the summer of 1939, battles were fought during the Japanese-Soviet conflict on the Khalkhin-Gol river.
In the face of the looming threat from the East, as well as the reluctance of great Britain and France to create a collective security system in Europe together with the USSR, which was clearly expressed in the signing of the “Munich Agreement” with Germany, the Soviet Union was forced to sign a non-aggression Treaty with Germany on August 23, 1939 (the “Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact”). The secret Protocol attached to the Treaty provided guarantees that in the event of German aggression against Poland, the ethnic Belarusian and Ukrainian lands, as well as the Baltic States, would not be occupied by it.
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Neither the non-aggression Treaty nor the secret additional Protocol attached to it contained articles on military cooperation between the two countries and did not oblige them to conduct military operations against third countries or to provide assistance in the event of one of them participating in a military conflict.
The agreements reached between Germany and the Soviet Union did not make them allies either formally or actually, although some try to prove the opposite today.
Today, critics of the German-Soviet Treaty try to claim that it was its conclusion that prompted Germany to attack Poland. However, documentary sources indicate that at the beginning of April 1939, A. Hitler gave the order to develop a plan for the military defeat of Poland. Already on April 28, Germany canceled the non-aggression agreement with Poland. The commander-in-chief of the German land forces, General V. Brauchitsch, signed a Directive on the attack on Poland on June 15, and on August 22, 1939, the German Fuhrer gave an order that Poland would first be defeated.
As we can see, these instructions were issued at a time when Ribbentrop did not arrive in Moscow to sign the Treaty. The fate of the Polish state was predetermined regardless of whether the German-Soviet Pact would have been signed or not.
Thus, the German-Soviet Treaty became a significant diplomatic and political act that ended the phase of the pre-war crisis, being its result, not the cause. It was nothing extraordinary in terms of the political practice and morals of the time, especially in comparison with the Munich Pact of 1938.
The German-Soviet non-aggression Treaty gave Belarusians and Ukrainians a historic chance to solve the problem of reunification in United national States.
Last year marked the 80th anniversary of a significant event in the history of Belarus – the reunification of Western Belarus with the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR).
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The partition of Belarus was made in accordance with the “Riga peace Treaty” signed on March 18, 1921 by the delegations of Poland, the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR (without the participation of Belarusian representatives), which formalized the end of the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1921. In accordance with this Treaty, the vast Western Belarusian lands were ceded to Poland.
The reunification was implemented during the red Army’s military operation in September 1939. The historical truth is that the vast majority of Belarusians perceived those events as an act of historical justice, met the Red Army as a deliverer from national oppression, with flowers and bread and salt. For the Belarusian people, this was a liberation campaign that ensured the reunification of the original Belarusian lands.
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On September 16, 1939, the order to March to the West was read out in the red Army units of the Belarusian front. The order emphasized the liberation mission of the Soviet troops, who were to provide urgent assistance to the Belarusians and Ukrainians to take them under protection from the enemy. It was not specified who the enemy was. Soviet troops were forbidden to bomb and fire cannons at localities. It was necessary to show loyalty to the Polish military personnel if they did not offer armed resistance.
The USSR did not declare war on Poland. The Polish government also recognized that there is no state of war with the Soviet Union. Therefore, in his order to the Polish troops, Marshal E. Rydz-Smigly on September 17, 1939 emphasized: “Do not fight with the Soviets, only in case of an onslaught from their side or attempts to disarm our units… The troops approached by the Soviets should enter into negotiations with them in order to withdraw the garrisons to Rumania or Hungary.”
Elections to the People’s Assembly of Western Belarus were held in the liberated territory on the basis of universal direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot. All male and female citizens who had reached the age of 18 enjoyed the right to vote in the National Assembly, regardless of race, nationality, religion, educational qualification, social origin, property status or previous activity. Compared to the electoral law of Poland in 1935, elections to the National Assembly were more democratic. In fact, it was a national plebiscite.
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2672280 people (96.7% of all eligible voters) participated in the elections to the People’s Assembly of Western Belarus on October 22, 1939. 90.7% of the votes were cast for the nominated candidates.
The People’s Assembly of Western Belarus held its session in Bialystok from 28 to 30 October 1939. All the elected deputies were present. Among them were 563 peasants, 197 workers, 12 representatives of intellegentsia, 29 employees, 25 artisans; by national composition – 621 Belarusians, 127 Poles, 72 Jews, 53 Ukrainians, 43 Russians and 10 representatives of other nationalities. As we can see, the composition of deputies reflected the social and national structure of the population of the region, which historically developed in Western Belarus.
The People’s Assembly of Western Belarus unanimously adopted declarations on the establishment of Soviet power, on the entry of Western Belarus into the BSSR, on the confiscation of landowners ‘ lands, on the nationalization of banks and large-scale industry.
The process of legal registration of the fact of Western Belarus joining the Soviet Union was completed by the decisions of the extraordinary 5th session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on November 2, 1939 and the 3rd extraordinary session of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on November 14, 1939. The BSSR included an area of 100 thousand km2 with a population of 4.7 million people, among whom the vast majority were Belarusians. The process of forming a management system in the newly incorporated territories in the image of the USSR began.
In a short time, the free of charge system of medical care was established. If in 1938 there were only about 80 hospitals and about 1000 doctors in the Western regions of Belarus, then at the end of 1940 there were 243 hospitals and maternity hospitals, 207 polyclinics and outpatient clinics, 1755 doctors and 5585 middle-level medical workers working in medical institutions.
There were also significant positive results in national education. If in the 1937/1938 academic year there were about 4.670 schools in Western Belarus where education was conducted in Polish, in the 1940/1941 academic year there were already 5.959 schools, with more than 4.500 of them teaching in Belarusian, the rest-in Russian, Polish, Hebrew and Lithuanian. At the beginning of 1941, about 170 thousand adults attended schools to eliminate illiteracy. In the Western regions of the BSSR, 5 higher and 25 secondary specialized educational institutions were opened. 5 theaters were opened, 220 libraries and 211 film installations operated.
The leadership of the USSR and the BSSR sought to take into account the national characteristics of the West Belarusian region: national cultural institutions were opened in Polish and Jewish languages, Newspapers were published in Polish, and editorial offices of the Polish radio broadcasting worked.
However, it should be noted that after the reunification of Western Belarus with the BSSR, socio-economic transformations caused dissatisfaction among some of the population. Mostly the performances were from the wealthy peasants, former Rangers, settlers and police. With the active support of the Polish emigration government, a secret network of the Polish nationalist underground was created in the Western regions of Belarus, which fought to keep Poland within its borders until September 1939. Only from October 1939 to July 1940. security agencies uncovered 109 clandestine organizations that United 3, 231 people (the vast majority of them of Polish nationality).
Nevertheless, the reunification of Western Belarus with the BSSR is of great historical significance for the Belarusian people. Socio-economic and cultural changes were carried out in the interests of the majority of the population. The reunification of Western Belarus with the BSSR prevented the threat of Polonization and assimilation of Belarusians, and contributed to the consolidation of the Belarusian nation. Belarus has become a territorially integrated state, and this has been an important prerequisite for rapid national and state development and the General progressive movement of the Belarusian people towards progress.
As a result of this historical event, the territory of the BSSR increased from 125.5 thousand km2 to 225,7 thousand km2, the population increased almost 2 times and amounted to 10 million 200 thousand people.
In military terms, the increase in territories and population created advantages associated with an increase in the mobilization reserve, as well as a significant increase in the distance from the Western borders of the state to strategically important objects. The country’s borders moved 100-200 kilometers to the West from the capital of Belarus, so that the German military attack took place on more favorable borders for the USSR.
The great Patriotic war began in the early morning of 22 June 1941, when the troops of Germany and its allies, according to the plan “Barbarossa”, attacked the Soviet border from the Barents to the Black sea, aiming a lightning strike to destroy the main forces of the red Army and by the end of summer to leave on a line Arkhangelsk – Astrakhan.
There was no single plan approved by A. Hitler for the population of the occupied territories. There are a number of documents that were developed by the departments of G. Himmler, G. Goering, A. Rosenberg, the main departments and the Reich commissariats.
A. Hitler’s instructions on the need to “develop the technique of depopulation”, which was understood as “the elimination of entire racial units”, are documented. The peoples who lived on the territory of the USSR were classified as “racially inferior”. It is no coincidence that official German documents noted that in the occupied Soviet territory “human life is worth nothing, and a frightening effect can only be achieved by extraordinary cruelty.”
There are documents of the Nuremberg trials, as well as trials of Nazi criminals that took place after the war in the Soviet republics and in European countries, where the sinister plans of the Nazis are documented.
The so-called “Comment and suggestions on the OST master plan”, which was a broad program for consolidating The third Reich’s rule in Eastern Europe, are worth noting. The OST plan, developed by the Main Imperial security Directorate, provided for the forced eviction of 80-85% of poles, 75% of Belarusians, 65% of the population of Ukraine, and a significant part of the population of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. There are about 31 million people in total. The Ministry of the Eastern occupied territories, headed by A. Rosenberg, considered this figure an underestimate and proposed to raise it to 46-51 million people.
As for the Belarusian population, the document gives it a whole section “On the question of Belarusians”. According to the plan, 75% of the Belarusian population was to be evicted from the territory they occupied, and 25% were to be subjected to dehumanization. In this regard, it was planned to carefully select Belarusians who were suitable for racial and political reasons for Germanization, and send them to the German Empire as a labor force. Belarusians who were not racially fit to be numbed were to be resettled in Western Siberia.
These provisions do not need to be commented on. The events of the war showed that in reality many peoples were destined for death. The essence of the Nazi policy in the temporarily occupied territory of the USSR, including Belarus, was genocide and”scorched earth”.
The decisive role of the Soviet Union in saving humanity from fascism and the contribution of the Belarusian people to the victory in the great Patriotic war.
World military history has not yet known examples of an aggressor throwing such a huge force into battle on the first day of war: 70% of all divisions, 75% of guns and mortars, 90% of tanks and planes.
With the German attack on the USSR, the great Patriotic war of the Soviet people became the main part of world war II. It was on the Soviet-German front that the bloodiest battles unfolded, which radically changed the course of the world war, and it was the Red Army that destroyed the main forces of the Wehrmacht and the armies of German satellites, freeing the world from the brown plague.
On the Soviet-German front, the enemy suffered 73% of total losses. In the personal composition of the German invaders lost in the battles with the Soviet troops 4 times more than in the battles with the Anglo-American, and if we talk only about the dead and wounded, this difference will increase to 6 times. In total, Germany lost 13.6 million people in world war II, of which about 10 million were lost on the Soviet-German front, accounting for three-quarters of all its human losses. The losses of equipment and weapons were significant. On the Soviet-German front, German troops lost up to 75% of tanks and assault guns, over 75% of aircraft, and 74% of artillery. The red Army destroyed, captured, and defeated 607 German divisions and divisions of Germany’s satellite countries. England and the United States defeated no more than 176 divisions of Germany and its allies in Western Europe, North Africa, and Italy.
The second front was opened only in June 1944. At that time, 181 German divisions and 58 German-allied divisions were operating against the red Army, while 81 German divisions were opposing American and British forces.
In the winter of 1945, there were 179 divisions of Germany and 16 divisions of its allies on the Eastern front; on the Western front, only 10 German divisions were defending themselves against the American-British forces. In General, the length of the Soviet-German front was four times greater than the North African, Italian, and Western European fronts combined.
It was under the blows of the Soviet troops that the Wehrmacht’s defensive strategy collapsed and the bloc of fascist States collapsed. The victories of the Soviet Armed Forces in 1944-1945 played a decisive role in the defeat of the Hitlerite army and brought the desired victory over the enemy closer.
It should be emphasized that at that time the West unconditionally recognized the decisive role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany. It is no accident that W. Churchill in his message to Stalin on September 27, 1944, noted that “it was the Russian army that let the guts out of the German war machine”.
This irrefutable fact is confirmed by the relations between the USSR and its allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, who managed to overcome essentially insoluble contradictions and unite their efforts against the enemy of humanity.
The decisive role of the USSR in the Victory and salvation of mankind was noted in 1949 by the Secretary of State of the United States of America E. Stettinius in the book “Argonaut” (code name of the Yalta conference): “The Soviet Union saved the United States from defeat in world war II.”
The contribution of the Belarusian people to the achievement of the great Victory is invaluable. More than 1 million 300 thousand citizens of our Republic fought on the fronts of the great Patriotic war, 374 thousand partisans and more than 70 thousand underground fighters fought in the territory occupied by the enemy. Hidden partisan reserves were about 400 thousand local residents. The nationwide resistance movement that has developed in Belarus has no analogues in the world history in terms of its scale and scope.
The scale of the national war against the German-fascist invaders is evidenced by the fact that on the territory of Belarus, partisans and underground fighters destroyed about half a million occupiers and their accomplices, derailed 11,128 echelons and 34 armored trains, destroyed 948 enemy headquarters and garrisons, and destroyed 1,355 tanks and armored vehicles.
Already on August 6, 1941, the leaders of the partisan detachment “Red October” of the Polesie region, T. p. paper And F. I. Pavlovsky, were the first Soviet partisans to be awarded the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union. The names of such partisan and underground heroes as A. S. Azonchik, K. S. Zaslonov, E. S. Zenkova, I. K. kabushkin, V. Z. Korzh, E. G. Mazanik, K. P. Orlovsky, Z. M. Portnova, V. Z. Haruzhaya, M. F. Shmyrev and others are forever inscribed in the national memory.
By the end of 1943, 60 % of the Republic’s territory was under partisan control. This historical fact shows that the partisan movement largely contributed to the preservation of the Belarusian people as an independent ethnic group.
According to its scale, military and political results, the resistance movement to the invaders in the BSSR has acquired strategic significance, has become one of the major factors in the defeat of the enemy, and Belarus is still called a “Partisan Republic”.
After the liberation of Belarus, over 180,000 partisans joined the Red Army.
Belarusians-workers of the deep rear who were evacuated to the East-also played an important role in bringing the General victory over the enemy closer.
In July-August 1941, more than 1 million people, equipment of 129 large enterprises, and 36 machine and tractor stations were evacuated deep into the territory of the USSR, to the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and Central Asia. By the summer of 1942, more than 60 Belarusian enterprises were working for the needs of the front.
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In 30 days, the Gomselmash plant was installed in Kurgan, Chelyabinsk region. Already in 1942, as a result of huge efforts, the plant produced 6 times more products than on the eve of the war, and in 1943 it exceeded this level by 14 times.
For heroic deeds in the great Patriotic war, 449 Belarusians and natives of Belarus were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 73 became full holders of the order of Glory, 4 Belarusians became twice Heroes of the Soviet Union (P. ya.Golovachev, I. I. Gusakovsky, S. F. Shutov, I. I. Yakubovsky).
Military leaders born in Belarus made a significant contribution to the Great Victory. This is primarily General of the army A. I. Antonov, chief of the General staff of the red Army since February 1945. It was under his leadership that the Belarusian strategic offensive operation Bagration was developed in 1944,which became the pinnacle of military leadership.
In total, more than 400 generals and admirals from Belarus fought in the ranks of the red Army and Navy. Many of them in the post-war period became prominent military leaders, among which should be named V. D. Sokolovsky, I. I. Yakubovsky, I. I. Gusakovsky, E. F. Ivanovsky, V. A. Penkovsky, P. I. Ivashutin, V. F. Margelov, I. E. Shavrov, S. A. Krasovsky, I. I. Pstygo, etc.
Belarus paid a high price for the Great Victory – the population of our country has decreased by three million. As a result of the policy of genocide, the Nazi occupiers destroyed hundreds of thousands of civilians: Belarusians, Jews, Russians, Ukrainians, etc. During the years of occupation, the BSSR lost more than half of its national wealth. Total material losses amounted to 79 billion rubles in 1940 prices. the Invaders burned and destroyed 209 cities and district centers, more than 9 thousand villages, 10338 industrial enterprises, destroyed or exported to Germany about 90 % of machines, machines and equipment. 8825 schools, 2187 hospitals and outpatient clinics were completely or partially destroyed. About 380 thousand civilians were taken to Germany for forced labor. During the years of occupation, which lasted 1,101 days on our land, more than 200 death camps operated on the territory of Belarus, including 14 children’s camps. Only in Minsk and its environs there were nine “factories of destruction” of people, where more than 400 thousand Soviet citizens and prisoners of war lost their lives.
The most important geopolitical result of the victory of the Soviet people in the great Patriotic war was that the USSR won a huge international prestige and influence. In fact, a bipolar world system was created. In addition, the Belarusian state has gained geopolitical weight. In 1945, the BSSR became one of the founders of the UN, thus receiving world recognition from other States and peoples.
Counteraction to the main activities of falsifiers of our heroic history.
The memory of the great Victory today remains the last powerful force that still unites people of good will, and is an important factor in thwarting the plans of the most destructive forces that dream of revenge.
At the same time, against the background of the resuscitation of the most destabilizing ideas underlying the ideology of fascism and its extreme form – German Nazism – in the modern world, the propaganda onslaught continues to plant in the minds of people the opinion that the Soviet Union is not a country that defeated the plague of the twentieth century, but an aggressor country, on a par with Germany, responsible for the death of tens of millions of people and the suffering of European peoples.
Unfortunately, these attempts are not fruitless. “The degradation of the system foundations of international security, which were created since the middle of the last century, is gaining strength. The system of military and political checks and balances is falling apart before our eyes, and international organizations are not yet able to stop this process. Humanity is moving with leaps and bounds to the line beyond which there is a real abyss, ” President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at the international conference on combating terrorism on September 3, 2019.
The main efforts of forgers are focused on the following destructive activities:
introduction of anti-historical ideas about the similarity of the goals of the foreign policy of the USSR and Germany into the consciousness of the world community;
distortion of the image of Soviet soldiers and the Soviet Armed Forces, represented as rapists and looters who brought to Europe not liberation, but allegedly occupation and destruction;
a significant exaggeration of data on the losses of Soviet troops in the course of military operations in order to accuse the command at all levels of inhumanity and senseless victims;
discrediting the activities of famous generals, those who are popularly called “marshals of Victory”.
it is an absurd understatement of the significance of the Soviet Union’s liberation mission in Europe, belittling the role of the Soviet Union in saving humanity from enslavement by Nazi Germany and its allies.
One of the main directions of falsification of the history of the great Patriotic war in relation to our country is the denial of the national character of the struggle against the Nazi invaders on the territory of Belarus. As if the national struggle was invented by Soviet propaganda after the war, and the Belarusian partisans are only small groups of the NKVD abandoned from behind the front line.
Also, some historians (both in the West and in the former Soviet Union) call partisans the fashionable term “terrorists”, are outraged by their violation of human rights, they say, they blew up trains, were robbers and murderers of their fellow citizens, including demanding to be held accountable for involving civilians, women, the elderly and children in hostilities. They are not able to understand the behavior, and most importantly – the soul of our people!
The scale of the mass partisan movement that unfolded in Belarus against the German-fascist invaders during the great Patriotic war was discussed above. About 140 thousand Belarusian partisans and underground workers were awarded orders and medals of the USSR for their heroism and bravery in the fight against the German-fascist invaders behind enemy lines, 91 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Another area of falsification of history is the creation of an image of” fighters for the national interests of the Belarusian people ” from Belarusians who collaborated during the great Patriotic war.
The issue of cooperation between the population of the occupied Soviet territories and the enemy during the great Patriotic war has always been acute for our society. In the USSR, this phenomenon was interpreted unequivocally as a betrayal of the Motherland and the Soviet people. Cooperation with the enemy seemed to be the lot of individuals, individuals and not considered as a mass phenomenon.
In the West, the sparing term “collaboration” was used (from the French – cooperation with the occupiers), which in the 1990s became firmly used in the post-Soviet space, including in Belarus.
The problem of collaboration is still the subject of numerous speculations and falsifications. In this regard, the recent emotional statement of the Nobel prize winner, Belarusian writer S. Alexievich that “thousands of Belarusians served in the police”is noteworthy. However, it is important to understand that collaboration on the territory of Belarus is an extremely complex and contradictory phenomenon. The very fact that the very concept of collaboration in modern consciousness has replaced the concepts of treason and betrayal, testifies to the extreme ambiguity of the problem.
Yes, some Belarusians went to cooperate with the enemy – out of dislike for the Soviet government, out of fear of the enemy, fear for their lives, in order to get material benefits, move up the career ladder, take a position in the new society, as well as unable to withstand the horrors and hardships of Nazi captivity. It is important to firmly understand that the absolute majority of Belarusians in the occupied territories remained faithful to their civil and Patriotic duty and did not enter into cooperation with the Nazis.
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According to various estimates, the military Belarusian collaboration (Wehrmacht, SS troops, police, paramilitary groups) was no more than 70 thousand people.
For comparison, the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, police and paramilitary forces served up to 300 thousand Balts, about 250 thousand Ukrainians and more than 300 thousand Russians.
The most important component of the opposition to falsifiers is to preserve the historical memory of the events of the great Patriotic war, which left a deep mark on the history of the Belarusian people. Belarusians cherish the memory of the fallen. More than 8,5 thousand memorials, monuments and man-made mounds of Glory have been erected on the territory of our country.
To be worthy of the feat of the great Victory generation.
The victory of the Soviet people in the great Patriotic war is one and indivisible. This was stated by Head of state Alexander Lukashenko in October 2019 at a meeting of the Council of CIS heads of state in Ashgabat, noting the Address prepared for adoption at the summit in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the great Patriotic war. “The great Soviet people gave us victory in this war! While dying in the besieged Brest fortress and besieged Leningrad, fighting at Stalingrad and Kursk, liberating Europe and storming Berlin, Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Armenians, Azeris, Moldovans, Georgians, Kyrgyzs, Tajiks, Turkmens and Uzbeks, other peoples did not think about their national identity. They were United, hoisting the banner of Victory over the Reichstag. This means that our Victory must be United and indivisible! ” the Belarusian leader said.
The main lessons of Victory are unity, courage, solidarity and friendship. Our ancestors won because they were together, shoulder to shoulder. In this regard, it is our duty to preserve the memory of the great feat of the people. Everything connected with the memory of the heroic defenders of the Motherland is the most significant. Nothing is more sacred or more important.
To this end, Belarus is implementing a complex of diverse events: the Republican Patriotic projects “Belarus remembers”, “Flowers of the great Victory”, the heroic and Patriotic action” great Victory-75!”, the Republican rally of search teams” We are the heirs of Victory”, the civil – Patriotic project” Gather Belarus in your heart ” and dozens of other Patriotic actions.
An integral part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the great Victory should be a military parade.
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According to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, the military parade will be held in Minsk on may 9 in the evening in the traditional format – with the participation of an air echelon, mechanized and walking columns. The duration of the event is up to 60 minutes. The parade is planned to end with a parade ground concert of the honor guard company and a performance of the composite orchestra.
More than 3,000 military personnel and 185 pieces of equipment are expected to participate. 42 aircraft must fly over the capital. Military personnel from Russia and China are expected to participate.
For the second year in Belarus, a large – scale project “for the glory of the common Victory!” is being held, the main goal of which is to honor the memory of war participants who made an invaluable contribution to the common Victory. In March 2020, a capsule containing earth collected on the battlefields near Rzhev was transferred to the crypt of the Minsk Temple of the monument in honor of All Saints and the innocents. On the eve of the memorial capsule with the inscription “From the battle of Rzhev”, made in the form of an artillery shell, was put on display in the temple for all to see.
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The first four memorial capsules were laid in the crypt on may 9, 2019. (they include land taken from the mass grave of partisans of the memorial complex “breakthrough” in the Ushachsky district, “Bogoroditsky field” near the city of Moscow.Vyazma, the graves of saninstructor Hero of the Soviet Union Zinaida tusnolobova-Marchenko and pilot Alexander Mamkin).
The international campaign “for the glory of the common Victory” continues to carry out its noble mission-to preserve the true history of the people’s feat, the memory of the real winners and victims of the war.
The Republican Patriotic project “Belarus remembers” is dedicated to the same noble goals – to preserve the memory of the feat of the people. it accumulates numerous initiatives throughout the country – open dialogues, Internet contests, challenges, thematic photo projects, events of the charity event of the same name, processions with portraits of heroes, etc. The large-scale project “Belarus remembers” has become not just traditional, but truly national.
Since 2015, on the initiative of the Belarusian Republican youth Union (BRSM), the country has also been implementing the Republican Patriotic project “Flowers of the great Victory”, which unites hundreds of thousands of people of different professions and ages. As part of the project, actions are being held across the country to lay Apple orchards, improve military graves, monuments and obelisks. The single symbol of the project “Flowers of the great Victory” is a composition consisting of Apple blossom and a red-green ribbon.
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Apple blossom embodies sincere gratitude to the heroic soldiers who gave their children and grandchildren a Great Victory, the opportunity to enjoy blooming gardens and new peaceful victories of sovereign Belarus. The color of the elements of the national flag of Belarus emphasizes the historical significance of these national holidays in modern Belarusian society.
This boutonniere and its logo are widely used during various festive events (processions, rallies, meetings with veterans, historical reenactments, exhibitions, concerts, interactive platforms, installations, photo zones, etc.).
Almost 75 years have passed since the end of the war, but there are still many unexplored pages in its history. Information about events and participants is collected bit by bit. Many today would like to learn as much as possible about their father, grandfather, all those who fought on the fronts of the great Patriotic war or in the partisans, who strengthened the rear with their work or love.
Information about relatives and fellow countrymen, participants of the partisan movement and underground struggle is now available on the new and so far only in Belarus information portal “Partisans of Belarus” (Partizany.by). At the time of the launch of the project, the database contained more than 36 thousand personal electronic cards about partisans and underground workers, in March 2020 – more than 82 thousand. And this figure is increasing every day.
For reference
“Partisans of Belarus” is a joint project of the publishing house “Belarus today” and the National archive of the Republic of Belarus, which has been developing since July 2019. This is a virtual encyclopedia of the partisan movement on the territory of Belarus in 1941-1944 with thematic sections “partisans-heroes”, “Legendary brigade commanders”, “Battles, exploits” and “Connections”, where text articles, copies of documents, photos, maps and other information are posted.
It is vital for us to preserve for posterity every fact and detail – everything that became the personification of the spiritual strength of the Belarusian people during the difficult war years.
In order to perpetuate and preserve the memory of the generation of winners, the national Academy of Sciences of Belarus initiated the all-Belarusian campaign ” people’s chronicle of the great Patriotic war: let’s remember everyone!» The campaign provides for the collection of preserved memories and photos of participants in the fight against the Nazi aggressors during the great Patriotic war. The collected materials are accumulated in the Institute of history of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, where their scientific processing is carried out, relevant publications are prepared, and work is underway to create an electronic database.
Belarus pays special attention to working with young people. Now the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of direct participants in the battles are the main guarantor of preserving the national memory and Patriotic traditions laid down by their predecessors. “We will do everything possible so that new generations will never forget the memory of the true heroes of the great Patriotic war,” President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at the opening of the new building of the Belarusian state Museum of the history of the great Patriotic war on July 2, 2014. And this message of the Head of state is being implemented.
In 2020, the implementation of the Republican civil-Patriotic project “Gather Belarus in your heart” will continue, in which Belarusian youth will explore the historical and cultural objects of their locality, develop tourist and excursion routes, create brochures, brochures, catalogs, videos, information stands “May Malaya Radzima” with the inclusion of information about the monuments of military history.
In order to consolidate the efforts of public associations in Patriotic education of young people, the BRSM NGO and the Federation of trade unions of Belarus jointly with the Belarusian state Museum of the history of the great Patriotic war, with the support of the Belarusian railway and other interested structures, held a Youth marathon “75”. The event resulted in the creation of the banner ” Belarus remembers!”, the album ” Belarus remembers. Native faces of Victory”, mobile exhibition “Liberation of Belarus”.
In institutions of higher education, together with the NGO “BRSM”, an action was held “student teams are named After them!”. This is a purposeful effort to assign the names of Heroes of the Soviet Union, full holders of the order of Glory, veterans and participants of the great Patriotic war to student groups. Thus, in the competition for the best student team for the second year, the banner was assigned to the Eureka student construction team named after Hero of the Soviet Union V. I. Yeronko of the Polotsk state University educational institution.
The memory of the heroic past is revered in Belarus. The Belarusian state pedagogical University named after M. Tank held the 55th international “Star trek” in January 2020, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the great Patriotic war.
Search and research work continued in educational institutions to establish and perpetuate the memory of the fallen defenders of the Fatherland and victims of war, to conduct reconnaissance search expeditions, “Memory Watches”.
In the framework of the activities to establish the names, lives and burial places of soldiers killed during the great Patriotic war, our youth can work with archives institutions of the Republic of Belarus and abroad, organized with information presented on the website HBS “memorial” (the generalized data Bank “memorial”, created on the initiative of the Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation, 2007).
For reference
Students of the military-Patriotic club “Rusichi” of the Orsha state Polytechnic vocational College for 2019 established 150 names of the victims.
Currently, students of educational institutions have already created more than 140 interactive maps on the territory of rural councils, districts and regions, which describe more than 3,500 monuments of military history.
The accumulated material adds to the collections of museums of educational institutions, which play a special role in the education of the younger generation. They are a kind of chronicle of the history of the region. As of September 1, 2019, 1,477 museums have been created in educational institutions, of which 226 have a military – historical profile. Almost all museums of educational institutions have expositions reflecting the events of the great Patriotic war.
This is the only way to preserve and perpetuate the name of each warrior for posterity and preserve the heroic legacy that has become part of the genetic code of our people.
Unfortunately, today we are entering an era when there are fewer witnesses and participants of those heroic events who can tell about the war in the first person every year.
For reference
As of January 1, 2020, there were 5,217 veterans of the great Patriotic war (including 3,146 disabled and war veterans, 2 Heroes of the Soviet Union), as well as 13,961 citizens who suffered from the consequences of the war. The youngest participants and invalids of the great Patriotic war today are 92-93 years old, the youngest partisans and underground workers are 87 years old.
As of March 1, 2020, 668 veterans of the great Patriotic war and 3,340 victims of the consequences of the war lived in the Vitebsk region.
Therefore, constant care for front-line soldiers remains a priority of the state policy of Belarus.
On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the great Victory, in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated December 30, 2019 No. 491, war veterans and certain categories of citizens affected by the consequences of the war, from April 1 to may 1, 2020, are paid one-time financial assistance.
For reference
The recipients of one-time financial assistance in accordance with the decree in the Vitebsk region are 4,008 citizens who receive pensions from the Ministry of labor, in the amount of 3.2 million rubles.
In 2020, it will be paid for:
1700 rubles – to 346 invalids and participants of the great Patriotic war, persons who took part in the defense of the Fatherland before September 3, 1945. (for a total amount of 588,200 rubles);
1,700 rubles – to 7 persons who took part in the special formations in the clearance of territories and objects after liberation from the German occupation in 1943-1945 (for a total of 11,900 rubles);
900 rubles – to 154 persons awarded orders or medals of the USSR for selfless work and impeccable military service in the rear during the great Patriotic war (for a total of 138,600 rubles);
900 rubles – to 21 citizens who worked at air defense facilities, local air defense, on the construction of fortifications, sea bases, airfields and other military facilities within the rear borders of active fronts, on front-line sections of Railways and highways (for a total of 18,900 rubles);
900 rubles – to 67 persons who worked at enterprises, institutions and organizations of Leningrad during the blockade from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944 and awarded the medal “For defense of Leningrad”, and persons awarded by a sign “Inhabitant of blockade Leningrad” (totaling 60 300 rubles);
700 rubles – to 110 family members of military personnel, partisans and underground workers who were killed (deceased), missing during the great Patriotic war (to spouses who did not remarry, children with disabilities from childhood (including adopted children), other dependents who were granted pension increases on the specified grounds in accordance with the law) (for a total amount of 77,000 rubles);
700 rubles – to 3,205 – former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps, prisons, ghettos and other places of forced detention created by the Nazis and their allies during world war II (for a total of 2,243,500 rubles);
700 rubles – to 98 disabled persons since childhood due to injuries, contusions, injuries related to fighting during the great Patriotic war or the consequences of military actions (for a total of 68,600 rubles).
Taking into account the established increases, allowances and surcharges, the pension of veterans of the great Patriotic war in March 2020 amounted to 596.7 to 806.6 rubles (with the average age pension-446.73 rubles).
Belarus also provides war veterans with the following benefits:
free provision of medicines issued by doctors ‘ prescriptions within the list of essential medicines;
free manufacture and repair of dental prostheses in public health organizations at the place of residence;
free provision of technical means of social rehabilitation;
free travel on all types of urban passenger transport;
free travel in suburban railway, water and automobile passenger transport;
of priority free Spa treatment or rehabilitation.
Heroes of the Soviet Union, disabled people and war participants, if they did not take advantage of the right to a free health resort ticket, are entitled to receive monetary assistance for recovery in the amount of 10 basic units (today-270 rubles).
For reference
In 2019, more than 3 thousand disabled people and participants of the great Patriotic war received financial assistance for recovery. The amount of expenditures from the national budget amounted to more than 1 million rubles.
In all districts of the Vitebsk region, a repeated survey of the living conditions of veterans and people affected by the consequences of the war was conducted, as a result of which the district Executive committees approved action plans for the implementation of requests and applications received.
Thus, according to the results of the survey, necessary social and household assistance was provided to 196 citizens, including 55 veterans and 141 victims of the consequences of the war.
City Executive committees have decided to exempt (as an exception) veterans of the great Patriotic war from paying for social services provided by territorial social service centers.
As of 01.03.2020, social services in the form of social services at home are provided to 137 veterans of the great Patriotic war, and nursing services-25.
All veterans of the Great Patriotic war are fully provided with housing and technical means of social rehabilitation.
Veteran of the Great Patriotic war Sushko Nikolay Filippovich from Polotsk is included in the delegation from the Republic of Belarus to participate in the Victory parade and other events in Moscow on may 8-10, 2020.
As of 1.03.2020, veterans of the Great Patriotic war and victims of the consequences of the war received financial assistance from the social protection Fund in the amount of 3.2 thousand rubles.
In order to provide patronage assistance, 100% of veterans of the Great Patriotic war and those affected by the consequences of the war are assigned to enterprises, youth and public organizations, and educational institutions.
The most popular are social services at home provided by the territorial centers of social services of the population (hereinafter-TCSS), which are available in each administrative district. This service covers 1,829 people, and 77 people are provided with a nurse. All war veterans receive social services at home free of charge.
Inpatient forms of social services (64 round-the-clock departments of the TCSON, 71 residential homes for the elderly and disabled) cover 142 people. There are 53 people in health care institutions (nursing hospitals, hospices). Daily assistance in the form of constant outside care is provided to 566 citizens.
A survey of the material and living conditions of veterans of the great Patriotic war and citizens affected by its consequences has been completed in all localities of the Republic. All those in need received the necessary assistance – more than 6.6 thousand people, including 479 citizens received additional social support in the form of repairs of residential premises, stoves, electrical wiring and gas equipment, installation of Autonomous fire detectors-for a total amount of more than 400 thousand rubles.
The work on providing social support to veterans of the great Patriotic war and some categories of citizens affected by the consequences of the war is systematic, is under constant control and will continue.
***
Thanks to the Great Victory, Belarus today is a sovereign independent Republic, where peace and stability are reliably ensured. It is quite natural that by the will of the Belarusian people, the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus (Republic Day) is a sacred date for the Belarusian people – the day of liberation of Minsk from the German-fascist invaders – July 3.
Historical continuity is one of the most important conditions for the full functioning of society. Knowledge of history and respect for it form a sense of national pride, teach to love the Motherland, contribute to the awareness of belonging to the national history, to the great victories and achievements of the Belarusian people.
Every person living is responsible for preserving the memory of the Great Patriotic war. It is important not only not to forget this memory at the state level, but also to pass on the heroics of those years to new generations, educating them in the spirit of loyalty to their Homeland. This can be done by passing on family memory from generation to generation, telling children and grandchildren about their grandfathers and great-grandfathers who participated in the war, and paying tribute to the fallen heroes.
Main Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs
of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee,
April 2020