The tragedy in the Belarusian village of Khatyn occurred during the Second World War, on March 22, 1943. Every one of the innocent villagers was killed, and the village itself was destroyed.
In history textbooks, this atrocity is usually attributed to the Nazis. This version was unconditionally believed for several decades. However, in recent years, details, once secret, have surfaced. But first, you should still consider the classic version of events.
Khatyn: what the textbooks tell
The Nazis broke into Khatyn on March 22, 1943 and surrounded it. It is believed that their brutality was largely provoked by the murder of a German officer near the village. People were driven out of their homes, no one was spared: men, women, children, old people. The goal was to gather everyone in one shed. Some children managed to hide from the Nazis. They tried to escape into the forest, but were overtaken by bullets. One girl was detained by the fascist with his own hand and shot in front of her father.
When all the inhabitants of Khatyn were in the barn, the Nazis surrounded it with straw, poured gasoline over it and set it on fire. Terrified people tried to get out, as a result of which the doors were demolished and the villagers fled. However, all those who fled were shot by the Nazis. Only two girls managed to escape, they were picked up in critical condition by residents of the village of Khvorosteni. Two boys also managed to survive. One of them lay under the corpse of his mother, the other was wounded by the Nazis and mistaken for dead. A total of 149 people died, including 75 children. The Nazis plundered and burned the village.
The only surviving adult resident of the village, the blacksmith Joseph Kaminsky, woke up after the tragedy. He found his son among the corpses, but he was mortally wounded and died literally in his father's arms. This image was taken as a basis for the design of the Khatyn memorial complex; a man with a dead child in his arms is the only sculpture in it.
New details
On the morning of March 22, the partisans deliberately damaged the Nazi communication line. Unit 118 of the Police Security Battalion went to troubleshoot, but was ambushed. A well-known person in Germany was killed - Hans Welke, who was the commander. This man once won the Olympic Games. The 118th police battalion played a major role in the burning of the village of Khatyn. It included military personnel and residents of Ukraine captured near Kiev. Chief of Staff Grigory Vasyura was previously a senior lieutenant in the Red Army.
On the part of the Germans, Erich Kerner led, he ordered Vasiura to burn the village along with the inhabitants. After the war, the executioners went into hiding, manipulated documents and tried to start a new life. But since 1974, there have been a number of arrests and punishments of key figures in the 118th battalion. Grigory Vasyura managed to escape justice until the mid-80s, by which time he was awarded the Veteran of Labor medal and positioned himself as an honored war veteran.