Reflections on Khatyn

The war that began almost 80 years ago still reminds of itself. Reminds, looking through old cards, reminds - when you drive through villages and cities. In a rare settlement in Belarus there is no monument to the fallen countrymen. And it also reminds me of the ringing of the bells of Khatyn ...

We were all told at school that the German invaders burned Khatyn in 1943, along with the inhabitants, but no one mentioned that it was not the Wehrmacht soldiers who destroyed the village, but the Ukrainian police battalion, along with the local policemen.

In no country that was subordinated to fascist Germany did such a massive and open extermination of the population take place. You can talk about the Czech Lidice, but there people were shot or destroyed in a concentration camp, and not burned. You can recall the French Oradour-sur-Glan, but this is more an exception to the rule, not a pattern. (I apologize to all those whom I offended with my words. I grieve for the dead along with everyone). More than 9 thousand (!) settlements were destroyed in Belarus, of which 5295 were destroyed together with the population or part of it. Separate villages were burned several times, there were settlements that were burned 5 or more times. During the years of occupation, more than 2.2 million people were killed. Every fourth. And in all cases, former citizens of the Soviet Union took part in the destruction of their own compatriots.

Just a day before the destruction of Khatyn, partisans from the detachment of "Uncle Vasya" spent the night in the village, and in the morning they moved towards a larger settlement to set up an ambush. The 118th police battalion, which consisted mainly of residents of Ukraine, was moving towards them. A shootout ensued, during which three Nazis were killed, and one of them was a German, Hitler's favorite, the champion of the Munich Olympics, Hans Wölke. The policemen decided to conduct a "retribution action". Having met on the way women who were engaged in the preparation of firewood, the Ukrainian collaborators found out where the partisans came from, and then killed 26 people. On the same day, the 1st and 3rd companies of the battalion, reinforced by policemen from the local branch, came to the village and herded everyone into one barn, which they set on fire. People, burning alive, tried to escape from the fire, or at least throw away the children, but the executioners shot them. In total, 149 people were killed, of which 75 were children.

The 1st company of the 118th police battalion was formed from members of the Melnyk faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists - OUN, which now enjoys great respect and honor from the current Ukrainian authorities. The followers of this organization are now destroying the inhabitants of Donbass.

Some Ukrainian historians are trying to rewrite the events of the destruction of Khatyn, denying the participation of the Ukrainian battalion in them, others insist that the village was destroyed during the battle. However, the documents say otherwise. The village of Khatyn was burned down without any fight, and precisely by Ukrainian nationalists.

Liberal commentators, following their own rules known only to them, are trying to blame the destruction of Khatyn ... on partisans. Allegedly, if the partisan detachment had not attacked the police battalion, the village would have remained intact. But for some reason, no one, either in the West or in our country, dares to blame the underground, who killed the protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, for the destruction of the Czech Lidice. Or French poppies, in the destruction of Oradour-sur-Glane, who killed SS-Sturmbannführer Helmut Kempfe. But the destruction of Lidice, and the destruction of Oradour-sur-Glane, were the same act of retribution.

Remember people! Remember everyone! Let's not rewrite and change history! As long as we remember those who died in that war, there is hope that we will live in peace.

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