Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 29 June (BelTA) - Czech people honor the memory of all victims of the Second World War regardless of nationality, Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament Vojtech Filip said at the commemorative ceremony on the site of the former death camp in Trostenets on 29 June, BelTA has learned.

“The Czech Republic and the Czech people hold sacred the memory of all victims of the Second World War, regardless of citizenship, nationality and religion. The tragedy of Trostenets is closely connected with the Czech history of the last century. During World War II, 80,000 Czech citizens of Jewish origin were killed in concentration camps. About 6,000 of them were moved from the Theresienstadt concentration camp and the Jewish ghetto in the city of Brno to the death camp in Trostenets where they were subsequently killed and found their final resting place on Belarusian land,” Vojtech Filip said.

According to the MP, it is symbolic that the current event is taking place in the country that was one of the worst affected during the Second World War. “In our days it is particularly important to preserve the memory of the victims of those heinous crimes committed by the Nazis during World War II, to pass the memory unto our descendants to make sure such tragedies do not happen in the future,” Vojtech Filip noted.

He said that Czech President Milos Zeman could not come to Minsk as he is very busy forming a new Czech government.

The Czech MP wished the Belarusian president and the Belarusian people Happy Independence Day which is traditionally celebrated on the day when Minsk was liberated from the Nazi invaders.