A memorial set up in 1973 commemorates the murder of the residents of the village Dalva close to Minsk. German troops locked the village residents in a house in June 1944 and burned down the entire village. The memorial was constructed on the initiative of a survivor of the »Tragedy of Dalva«.
Dalva, 1970s, Survivor Nikolai Girilovich at the Memorial
Dalva, 2004, The Memorial, Stiftung Denkmal
During their retreat in June 1944, units of the German Wehrmacht reached the small village of Dalva, around 77 kilometres north of Minsk. In the course of »Anti-Partisan Warfare« the Wehrmacht undertook a murder campaign against the population of Dalva on June 19, 1944: the 44 residents of the small village were locked in a house and Wehrmacht soldiers set the building ablaze. Those who tried to escape the flames were shot. Afterwards, the Wehrmacht burned down the entire village . There was probably only one survivor of the Dalva massacre - Nikolai Girilovich, then thirteen years old . A few days later the Red Army reached the area.
Dalva, 1970s, Survivor Nikolai Girilovich at the Memorial
Dalva, 2004, The Memorial, Stiftung Denkmal
It is assumed that the Wehrmacht killed 44 civilians in the village of Dalva, amongst them 29 children and adolescents.
Dalva, June 19, 1987, Memorial Day at the Memorial
Dalva, 2004, Symbolic outline of a house, Stiftung Denkmal
Nikolai Girilovich, thirteen year old at the time, was most probably the only survivor of the massacre. He later became an advocate of the memorial, which was dedicated on July 15, 1973. The memorial complex was designed by the artist Vladimir Terebun. The Belarusian inscript on the memorial stone reads: »Here stood until June 19 1944 the village Dalva. Ten days before liberation, its inhabitants were burnt alive by the Fascists«.
Dalva, 2004, Memorial stone, Stiftung Denkmal
Dalva, 2004, Symbolic outline of a house, Stiftung Denkmal
- Name
- Memorial pamjati tragedii Dalwy
- Web
- http://dalva.by/
- dalva@tut.by
- Open
- The memorial is accessible at all times.