Press releases

12 Jun 2019

Brest hosts youth project to celebrate Belarus' liberation anniversary

BREST, 12 June (BelTA) – Participants of the patriotic youth project Marathon 75 celebrating the 75th anniversary of Belarus’ liberation from Nazi invaders arrived in Brest on 12 June, BelTA has learned.

The participants of the marathon accompanied by bikes and cars entered the city and headed towards the Brest Fortress. The territory by the main entrance to the fortress has turned into a site for celebration with a stage, interactive and photo zones. Guests of the event are invited to visit the exhibition Liberation of Belarus and share stories about members of their families who took part in the Great Patriotic War to help compile the album “Belarus Remembers. Dear Faces of Victory”.

“Marathon 75 aims to visit all oblast capitals stopping in some district capitals along the way. This will give us another chance to commemorate people who gave their lives for peace,” Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Belarusian BRSM Youth Union Oleg Dikun said. “Belarus was liberated 75 years ago but still remembers each and every war hero. Participants of the marathon are collecting photos of liberators and information about them to create the national Belarus Remembers canvass. It will be unveiled during a festive procession on 3 July and then handed over to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War History,” he added.

Tatyana Simonovich from Brest is among those who has answered the call to help compile the album. Her grandfather survived the war and was awarded medals, including the medal “For the Capture of Berlin”and one for liberating Warsaw. “Our family wants to preserve the memory of the ancestors who defended our Motherland. We are proud of them. When we heard about the album we knew we wanted the grandfather's photo in it,” Tatyana Simonovich said. More than 60 people from Brest joined her. One of them is silver medalist of the 2004 Summer Olympics Hanna Batsiushka whose grandfather also fought in the war.

After Brest, the marathon will travel around Brest Oblast. The next destination is Pruzhany, then Grodno. All in all, the project will pass through 15 Belarusian cities. “We expect the marathon to bring together some 10,000 citizens of oblast and district capitals. We invite Belarusians to join in the project and bring photos of their fathers and grandfathers,” Oleg Dikun noted.

Marathon 75 has been organized by the BRSM Youth Union in cooperation with the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War History.