July’s
2008 official statistics data shows that there are 57,479 veterans of the Great
Patriotic War living in
Belarus;
51,015 former prisoners of fascist concentration camps, prisons and ghettos; 1,450
disabled from childhood due to wounds and contusions received during the war; and
there are around 110 thousand of so called witnesses of the war. Their pensions
are slightly higher than the average working pensions of Belarusians however its
amount still does not provide for ‘normal’ survival. Unfortunately, the state
recalls about the veterans only before the Victory Day, when they are invited
to official celebrations, meetings and in the best cases they are presented
with gifts… In the meantime during other days of the year they are rarely
remembered.
Outcasts rather than sons
With
regard to ex-prisoners of concentration camps, prisoners of war and under-aged
prisoners, captured for compulsive labour in
Germany, until just recently their
own country regarded them as betrayers almost. It was later on that they
received minimal benefits and compensations. Not so long ago, victims of the
Nazi regime were cut on their benefits provided by the state. In December 2007
some of the groups of veterans lost their public transport benefits and price
reductions on drugs.
At
the same time, the majority of the ex-prisoners of war and children of war are
modest elderly people with health problems. They need attention and warm
attitude as well as concrete assistance, including financial aid. Therefore a
number of state, civil and volunteer organizations are supervising veterans and
ex-prisoners and successfully implement socially oriented projects with the assistance
of their foreign partners.
120
victims of the Nazi regime received compensations from
Germany
In
the beginning of 1990s,
Germany
started reimbursing material resources to the ex-prisoners of Nazi
concentration camps. Austrians and Swiss followed the example of
Germany. In
1993 a Belarusian Republican Foundation “Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation”
was founded in
Belarus,
which assisted in reimbursing pecuniary claims. In November 2006 the pay outs
of compensations for forced and slave labour by the German Foundation “Memory,
Responsibility, Future” made to victims of the Nazi regime and their successors
were closed de facto. 120 thousand of ex-prisoners of war received
compensations in
Belarus.
The amount varied from 5 to 15 thousand Deutsch Marks.
“Today
the Foundation “Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation” is dealing with other
socially oriented programmes, in particular, implements projects in the area of
healthcare and social protection. We are involved in working with hospitals,
pharmacies, opticians, Chernobyl projects, oncology patients, ex-prisoners of
war and prisoners of concentration camps and ghettos and receive financial
support from various sources”, says the First Deputy Chairman of the
Foundation, Mr. Konstantin Prohorenko.
“Guest House” welcomes visitors
A
civic organization “Historical Workshops” celebrated its 5th
Anniversary this year. Its Office is located in the Sukhaya street, not far
from the place where
Minsk
ghetto was located during the war. Last year an official opening of a ‘Guest
House’ took place on the basis of the premises of this NGO. It is a joined
Belarusian-German project, aiming at providing assistance to the victims of the
Nazi regime during the Second World War: ex-prisoners of war, prisoners of the
Minsk Ghetto and hast-arbeiters. The Head of the ‘Historical Workshops” NGO,
Kuzma Kazak, says that the project is ‘targeted, first of all, at ensuring
better understanding between generations, states, and perhaps between epochs’. “Our
efforts are concentrated on those people who are viewed here as non-heroes for
some reasons. It concerns those who were kept in concentration camps, who
worked in forced labour camps in
Germany and those who were kept in
Minsk Ghetto. Unfortunately, the number of those people is reducing year by
year. The majority of them suffer from health problems, however their main
problem is the lack of communication. It is necessary that they could have a
chance to gather together to share their memories. Therefore the German side
proposed to allocate funds so that four days in a week those people could attend
such meetings. We also invite health experts, psychologists and historians to participate
in these meetings”, said Mr. Kazak.
Moreover, it is not related to meetings at the offices
of “Historical Workshops” only. Some of those who witnessed war are not capable
of transporting themselves for already quite a while however they also receive
assistance from volunteers and experts of various types. They have someone to
clean up their houses, buy groceries and drugs for them and help them with
their day-to-day chores.
“Ancestors should not feel guilt,
rather bear responsibility”
A project “Providing War Witnesses with Proper Living Conditions” is to
be implemented in the course of the following three years; it is funded by the
German Foundation “Memory, Responsibility, Future” and by the
Evangelistic
Church
of the Northern Land of Reihn-Westfalia.
On principle, the project represents a new form of
material compensation which the German government implements after seizing
reimbursements to the victims of the Nazi regime in
Belarus. The Head of the
International Educational Centre based in
Minsk,
Mr. Biktor Balakirev, says: “There is a good saying, that ancestors should not
feel guilt, rather bear responsibility. Therefore they should be responsible
for what their parents have done and assist other people who found themselves
in a complicated situation. Our State is not always capable of providing such
material assistance. The German government has more funds available and
therefore it shares what it has in order to support these people in the last
days of their lives”.
“German citizens regard this assistance to our
veterans that have not much left to live as accountability of their country, a
moral duty which requires financial input”, says Mrs. Hanna Ivanauna, one of
the victims of the forced labour executed by the Nazi Germany, about the project
“Providing War Witnesses with Proper Living Conditions”.
Indeed,
one may only thank our German partners for the assistance they provide, however
it would be even better if the Belarusian state could improve its assistance to
its ‘daughters and sons’ bearing in mind that not so many of them are left.
By Liudmila Korsak
