Day 2: Visit to Khatyn Memorial

On the second day we visited Khatyn Memorial. All I can say is that I was extremely moved, even to tears at one point. The story and pictures speak for themselves.

The memorial is located on the site where the village of Khatyn once stood before the entire village was massacred. In 1943 there were 26 houses and 156 villagers. One day a Nazi battalion stormed the village, forced everyone into the barn and then burnt it to the ground. Those who managed to escape the burning building were shot. The Nazis then looted and burnt down the rest of the homes in the village. Only one adult survived.

 The "Unbowed Man".
This sculpture shows Khatyn's only survivor holding his dead son in him arms. 

This memorial serves not only as a reminder of the tragedy of Khatyn, but also as a symbol for the other villages in Belarus that were attacked and all of the deaths that occurred during this period. It remembers not only the Jews that were killed, but also the Belarusian citizens. All in all, over 2,000,000 people were killed in Belarus during the Nazi occupation; about a third of the Belarusian population at the time. 

Red for the blood that was shed. Black for the death and the ashes. 

When we examine transition, it is important to think not only about where we are going, but the past we are coming from. We must not forget the past but kept it in our memories so that we do not repeat it and so that it can be learned from. Injuries of the past must be remembered because they can motivate hope for a better future.  

The everlasting flame. Their memory will never die.