Press releases

BelTA’s books ‘Last witnesses’, ‘Archives. Nothing but the truth’ presented at book fair

MINSK, 14 March (BelTA) – BelTA’s publishing projects “Last witnesses” and “Archives. Nothing but the truth” have been presented at the 31st Minsk International Book Fair.

BelTA First Deputy Director General Vasily Matveyev said: “Today we are presenting two book projects – ‘Last witnesses’ and ‘Archives. Nothing but the truth’. We implemented these two publishing projects last year together with partners: the Office of the Prosecutor General of Belarus and the Justice Ministry of Belarus.”

He explained how work on the “Last witnesses” book had begun. “Nine disks came into our possession with interrogations of witnesses. The interrogations were carried out by investigators of the Prosecutor General’s Office in the course of investigating the criminal case into the genocide of the Belarusian nation. We relied on these videos and found out that the people, who had given their testimony, had seen with their own eyes the horrors perpetrated by the invaders. Those were people who were imprisoned in camps, people who were forced to work, people whose relatives perished during horrible punitive operations,” Vasily Matveyev noted.

Prosecutor General Andrei Shved backed the project. The project was initially published as articles in the 7 Dnei weekly and on BelTA’s website. Later on it was released as a book.

Work on the project “Archives. Nothing but the truth” stemmed from the National Archive of Belarus. Healthcare Minister Sergei Khomenko supported the project. “BelTA reporters received unique documents. A working group and researchers perused them. The archivists Vyacheslav Selemenev and Svyatoslav Kulinok helped acquire the data the reporters used while working on the project, which also evolved into a book later on,” Vasily Matveyev noted.

Both projects have been praised. BelTA has won a Grand Prix at a national mass media contest. The Office of the Prosecutor General, the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA), and the National Television and Radio Company have been awarded the Belarus president’s special prize for culture and art luminaries in recognition of their work on the “Last witnesses” book.

“We are very proud of having contributed a bit to the huge river of nationwide recollection of those horrible events that happened during the years of the war,” BelTA’s first deputy director general stressed.

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