Description of the attraction
Memorial complex "Khatyn" - a silent monument to the fascist atrocities during the Great Patriotic War.
The village of Khatyn was completely burned down on March 22, 1943. All the villagers were burned to death. Those who tried to escape from the fire were awaited by the automatic bullets of the soldiers standing in the cordon. Only three managed to survive: two boys and one elderly man.
In 1966, it was decided to perpetuate the tragedy of Khatyn and create a memorial complex on the site of the burnt village. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus made a decision to create a memorial complex "Khatyn" in Logoisk district. An all-Union competition for the projects of the memorial complex was announced. In March 1967, the competition was won by young contemporary architects Y. Gradov, V. Zankovich, L. Levin and the sculptor, People's Artist of the BSSR S. Selikhanov.
Memorial complex "Khatyn" was inaugurated on July 5, 1969.
The sculpture of an unconquered inhabitant of Khatyn, carrying a dying son in his arms, is striking. The monument miraculously depicts the surviving blacksmith Joseph Kaminsky, who found his wounded son under the piles of corpses.
Particular emotional expressiveness is achieved by the bell ringing, which is heard every 30 seconds. The ringing spreads far over the silent green hills that store the ashes of Khatyn. Memorials in the form of chimneys remind of burnt houses.
The only village cemetery in the world has been created here. All that remains of the burned villages is immortalized - their name and an urn with ashes brought from the scene of the tragedy. On the symbolic tree branches, 433 Belarusian villages burned down during the war are mentioned in alphabetical order.
