Vitebsk celebrated the 81st anniversary of the city's liberation from Nazi invaders
On the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Vitebsk from Nazi invaders, wreaths and flowers were laid at the Eternal Flame on Victory Square.
The ceremony was attended by city leaders, representatives of work collectives, educational institutions, and public organizations.
At the solemn rally, the Chairman of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, Alexey Geroev, noted that the celebration of City Day is linked to one of the most important dates in its history – June 26, 1944. The liberation from the Nazi invaders was preceded by three years of oppression, hunger, violence, torture, and humiliation. From the very first days, the Nazis established a bloody order, condemning residents to extinction. Many became victims of the Holocaust and genocide. Five death camps were established in Vitebsk; the most notorious, the 5th Regiment, became a mass grave for over 80,000 people. Vitebsk residents were driven to forced labor in Germany and sent by train to concentration camps in European countries. Screams of pain and suffering emanated daily from the basements of the German Gestapo. According to incomplete data, from July to December 1942 alone, over 3,000 people passed through the torture chambers of the SD prison.
Despite the might of the German war machine, terror, and mass killings, the townspeople never lost faith in Victory. The first underground groups began to form as early as July 1941. Vitebsk patriots established connections and assisted partisans and special reconnaissance groups, saved young people from being driven to hard labor, and carried out sabotage on the railway and airfield.