The memorial zone "Sorrow" was opened in the Brest Fortress
On June 21, the memorial zone "Sorrow" was opened at the Brest Hero-Fortress memorial complex. The new memorial zone is located in the western part of the citadel. It was there that in the post-war years the famous inscription was discovered: "July 20, 1941. I am dying, but I do not surrender! Farewell, Motherland!" The image for the sculptural composition of a grieving woman was a photograph of the widow of one of the defenders of the legendary citadel on the Bug River. The memorial reflects the memory that the families and loved ones of the heroes have preserved and continue to preserve to this day. On both sides of the sculpture, there is a wall of memory with the names of 71 defenders of the Brest Fortress who died in captivity at the hands of the Nazis.
"Such monuments are needed, and there can never be too many of them. It would seem that we received a vaccine against war many, many decades ago. But today, war is in every home: either on television, in the media, or outside the window. And that is what is frightening: that the lesson which, it would seem, should have been learned forever, has not been learned. There remain those who deliberately provoke and create conflicts that claim thousands and thousands of lives for no reason. This monument is an alarm bell, an alarm bell for everyone in the world, so that they think again, come to their senses, and remember at what cost victory is achieved, at what cost war is waged, and at what cost the ambitions of those who provoke armed conflicts are paid," said Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Natalia Petkevich.
She noted that the sculptural composition has absorbed the pain of all Belarusians.
"Probably, there is no other nation in the world that has suffered so much. Because this is the pain of every one of our families. We really want our future generations, who will take over the governance of the country, to carry forward this sense of the value of peace, memory, and gratitude for the fact that we are alive today. So that they pursue a policy that will ensure that such a thing never happens again," the Vice-Premier emphasized.
Sergey Glazyev, Secretary of State of the Union State, called the Brest Hero-Fortress memorial complex a symbol of courage and indomitable heroism that deeply touches the heart of every person.
"Almost all the defenders of the Brest Fortress perished. And every fallen soldier left behind a mother, many left behind children and wives. Women are the main victims of war. They carry infinite sorrow throughout their entire lives. The prototype for this sculpture was a real woman – Elena Kuznetsova, who on the very first day of the war lost her husband Boris Kuznetsov, who died a heroic death. This image is symbolic. It reflects the fates of millions of our women who suffered during the war," he noted.
Ceremony participants laid flowers at the monument and honored the memory of the defenders of the Great Patriotic War and the Brest Fortress.
The creation of the "Sorrow" memorial zone was included in the list of 11 measures under the current Union State project for restoration and museification. The completed work has made it possible to open access for visitors to the western part of the citadel, which had previously been used as a service area.
