Attending the opening ceremony was Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko who placed a time capsule at the foundation of the memorial just a year ago… "The heart shrinks with pain when you think of the atrocities and crimes of the Nazis against humankind. People of various nationalities and confessions were brought here in packed echelons. Among those people were not only our compatriots but also people of other European countries – Poland, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia. It was a dire death conveyor. Mass execution took place in the area of Blagovshchina, bodies were burnt in the area of Shashkovka," Alexander Lukashenko said.
"We venerate and will always remember the victims of that war. The construction of Trostenets Memorial is a matter of honor for Belarusians," Alexander Lukashenko noted.