Shock: Garbage dump beside mass grave site
10:03, — society
In guide-book Belarus is often called a country where special attention is dedicated to the war history. Students of history from Bonn University have decided to see that and visited to Belarus.
In November 2007 a group of Bonn University students with a financial support of foundations “Memory, responsibility and future”, “Zeit”, DAAD and Friedrich Naumann foundation, organized a visit to Belarus. Young people were most of all interested what people of the country which suffered from Nazi occupation know and remember about military events, Deutsche Welle informs.
During the week spent in Minsk German students could compare interpretations of events of the Second World War from the official stance and the position of independent historians and personal memories of eyewitnesses.
Svetlana Beiche was greatly impressed by a meeting with two military historians whose viewpoint is opposite to views of Ihar Kuznyatsou and Anatol Sharkou.
“Only “selected” historians are allowed to write history textbooks, as only they have an access to archives! It looks like Belarusian students are deprived of a possibility of critical assessment of historical events,” Svetlana resents.
And Brita Lenz mentioned another problem:
“My deepest impression of the trip is visit to the territory of the former death camp Trastsyanets. When you realize that in fact you are standing on a mass grave site, and a garbage dump is situated nearby, you feel deeply shocked. I was stunned by such an absence of attention to the historic spot. Such things cannot be tolerated!”
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