Press releases

Crypt of All Saints Church in Minsk to store capsule with soil from concentration camp

MINSK, 9 April (BelTA) – An event will take place in the crypt of the All Saints Church in Minsk on 10 April in anticipation of the International Day of Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps (11 April), the press service of the Minsk City Executive Committee told BelTA.

A capsule with soil from the site of the Flossenburg concentration camp (Germany) will be placed into the church’s crypt. The soil sample was collected back in November 2018 when a Belarusian delegation visited the concentration camp site. The delegation included representatives of traditional religions, religious communities, and the Belarusian Cultural Center of Spiritual Renewal.

The Flossenburg concentration camp was located at the German-Czech border in a mountainous area. Prisoners from European countries and the Soviet Union – about 96,000 people – had to do backbreaking labor in the camp between May 1938 and 23 April 1945. Over 26,000 Soviet citizens died in the concentration camp, including multiple POWs.

After the capsule is placed, a commemorative prayer will be arranged involving representatives of Belarus’ main religions. A seminar on memory about the Trostenets death camp in Christian communities of Belarus will take place in the white hall of the All Saints Church.

The event has been organized by the Belarusian Cultural Center of Spiritual Renewal, the All Saints Church parish community, and the Minsk Johannes Rau International Center for Education and Exchange.

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