Heroism of the Belarussian people during the Great Patriotic War
On June 22, 1941 Belarus was among the first Union republics to be attacked by Nazi Germany. From the very first day to the last the Belarusian people fought heroically against the enemies. An example of this is the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress, which connected significant German forces.
A massive movement was launched on the occupied territories. It ammounted to 374,000 people. It is not by chance that Belarus came to be called a partisan republic. Belarusian partisans opened one more front and helped the Army to win victory over the invaders.
Heroism and selflessness became ordinary standards of behaviour for millions of people in the field of battle and in the rear. All our heroes cannot be mentioned, but here are a few: Konstantin Zaslonov, who organized acts of sabotage at the Orsha railway station; Nikolai Gastello, who rammed his burning plane into a column of German tanks near Radashkovichi.
In the summer of 1944 Belarus was completely cleared of the enemy troops. But the victory over the fascist invaders was not an easy one. We lost nearly every fourth citizen of the Republic and more than half of our national wealth.
The contribution of the Belarusian people to the defeat of Nazism was enormous. Due to this fact the Republic of Belarus was invited in 1945 to become a founding member of a new international organization 一 the UNO (United Nations Organization).