Press releases

BEREZA DISTRICT, 20 September (BelTA) – A ceremony to re-inter the remains of German and Hungarian soldiers killed during the Second World War took place in Bereza District, Belarus on 20 September, BelTA has learned.

The search for wartime burials is conducted by foreign representatives in cooperation with a special search battalion of the Belarusian Defense Ministry. In 2017-2018 they carried out excavations in Osipovichi and Petrikov District. The remains of about 200 German and 33 Hungarian soldiers were re-interred at the common soldier cemetery near the village of Signevichi on 20 September. Over 20,000 soldiers of Germany and Hungary killed during the Second World War were buried at the cemetery.

“I would like to thank Belarus, its special search battalion for help in conducting these events. We live in turbulent times. We must remember about the terrible wars of the 20th century,” Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Belarus Peter Dettmar said. Hungary’s Ambassador Zsolt Csutora shares the same view. “It is important for me to be here. When a child, I loved to watch war films. I knew back then who liberated our country. Today it is important that we, especially young people, know about the consequences of wars in order not to repeat them,” the diplomat said.

He added that he has recently arrived in Belarus. “The relations between our countries are good but they can be better. We have ideas on how we can further our cooperation in various areas,” the Ambassador said.

During the commemorative ceremony Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Gabor Pinter read prayers for the dead.

The participants of the ceremony also laid wreaths at the common grave of Soviet soldiers and partisans in Komsomolsky Park in Bereza.