Scientists, students and experts presented research on the genocide of the Belarusian people at a conference in Grodno

Veteran scientists, research specialists and young people who have joined forces in establishing the historical truth share the results of their work at the republican scientific conference “Genocide in Belarus in 1941-1944: historical and legal aspects (to the 85th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War)”, which takes place in the GrSU named after Y. Kupala.

The forum is attended by representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Academy of Sciences, the Military Academy, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Grodno region, students and teachers of the GrSU named after Y. Kupala. Experts, scientists, students present the results of their research on the events of the Great Patriotic War, prosecutors – the facts revealed during the investigation of the criminal case on the genocide of the Belarusian people. The conference also summed up the preliminary results of the large-scale interdisciplinary project “Genocide of the Belarusian people: memory and pain of the Grodno land”, dedicated to the investigation, preservation of memory and study of the consequences of Nazi crimes during the war in the Grodno region. For three years, the project has been jointly implemented by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Grodno Region and Yanka Kupala Grodno State University.

Almost all faculties of GrSU are involved in the joint project, and this makes a significant contribution to the common cause. The guys work in archives, translate documents important for the investigation from the German language, give a preliminary legal assessment, since one of the tasks is to bring persons to criminal responsibility in absentia, which is now provided for by procedural legislation. Thematic documentaries are made, materials are published in the media, exhibitions are held, said Pavel Siluk, Deputy Prosecutor of the Grodno region.

He stressed that participation in the project gives young people the opportunity not only to receive ready-made information, listen to reports, but to find facts in bits, making sure of their reliability, to form their own real idea of historical truth.

More than 6,300 victims and witnesses, relatives of victims have been questioned in the course of the investigation of the criminal case on the genocide of the Belarusian people in the region, the work continues, added Pavel Silyuk.

" The study of problems related to the history of the Great Patriotic War, the genocide of the Belarusian people, is one of the topical areas in modern Belarusian science and modern society. At GrSU, this is a great collective work, following which collections, monographs are published, term papers and diploma papers are written. It is very important that young people are actively involved in this process, who learn a lot, overestimate, and form as patriotic citizens in the process of studying historical evidence, said Sergey Omelko, associate professor of the Department of History of Belarus, Archaeology and Special Historical Disciplines of GrSU.