Year of Historical Memory

Andreichenko: We could not have imagined once that we would have to defend historical truth, memory

MINSK, 14 June (BelTA) - A few years ago, we could not have imagined that we would have to defend historical truth and memory, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko told the media in Minsk on 14 June, BelTA has learned.

"A few years ago, we could not have imagined that we would have to defend the historical truth and memory. Therefore, we are holding the international parliamentary conference dedicated to the historical memory, the Great Victory which was achieved by unity. It is timed to the 81st anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The conference has brought together parliamentary delegations of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, representatives of the CIS, the CSTO, the Union State, foreign diplomats, international experts," Vladimir Andreichenko said.

The international parliamentary conference opened today, 14 June, and will be running for two days. "The conference was initiated by the House of Representatives; the co-organizers are the Prosecutor General's Office, the Defense Ministry, the Academy of Management under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus and the National Academy of Sciences. Everyone has made a big contribution,” the speaker said. “The purpose of the conference is to voice a strong disapproval of the attempts to rewrite history, to show the danger posed by the rehabilitation of Nazism and, of course, to demonstrate the great work that is being done in Belarus to preserve the historical memory and historical truth. We believe that the conference will contribute to the recognition and condemnation by the international community of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War.  We will exchange legislative experience on these issues. And, of course, we will discuss how we can strengthen our parliamentary cooperation to counter the hybrid aggression that is being waged against the Republic of Belarus and other post-Soviet states today."

The conference will run five breakout sessions. The breakout session "The Great Patriotic War in Modern Historiography" will be hosted by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, "The Sacred Duty of the Living" - by the House of Officers, "Crimes without a Statute of Limitations" - by the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War, "Historical Memory. The Connecting Thread of Generations" - by the Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the  President of the Republic of Belarus, "The Great Victory in the Public and Media Discourse" – by the All Saints memorial church.

In the evening of 14 June, participants of the international parliamentary conference will join a prayer to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the genocide in the Khatyn memorial complex. The plenary session "Historical Memory: The Great Victory Gained by Unity" will be held on 15 June. The conference will adopt the outcome resolution.

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