Belarus estimates wartime damages from Nazis at $2.3 trillion

The amount of material damage for Belarus from the Nazi atrocities during the Great Patriotic War is estimated at least at $2.3 trillion, Belarus' Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said in an interview to Belarus 1 TV Channel, BelTA has learned.

“Last October, a special government commission completed its work to determine the material damage of the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War. The head of state was reported that the minimum amount of material damage is 43,500 tonnes of gold, or at least $2.3 trillion at the current U.S. dollar rate,” said Andrei Shved.

The prosecutor general noted that the criminal investigation is under control of the head of state. Serious work has been done, but there is still a lot to do.

As of early 2023, some 16,000 people have been questioned in the criminal case of genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. Over 7,600 of them were prisoners of death camps. Prosecutors additionally established information about at least 1,300 previously unknown burned settlements, and also about more than 90 death camps.

“The materials have been transferred to the commission, which is working on the reconstruction of the Khatyn memorial complex. The results of the investigation will also be taken into account,” said Andrei Shved. In particular, it became known that the fate of Khatyn was shared by at least 30 other settlements.

“Before the investigation of the criminal case, for example, it was known that at least 9,200 villages were burned completely or partially. According to the results of the recent investigation, we can see that this figure is much higher - at least 10,500 settlements. At least 3 million people in the territory of the BSSR were annihilated, although official statistics for years gave different figures - 2.2 million , 2.4 million. There are specific people behind these figures, but the fate of even one person is the fate of an entire generation,” the prosecutor general said.

Andrei Shved added that serious work was done to inform the public about the results of the criminal investigation and the facts of genocide of the Belarusian people. A series of documentary films has been made. Prosecutors organized exhibitions about the genocide of the Belarusian people in all district centers, which were visited by more than 1.7 million people. This work will continue, he added.

Written by belta.by