Belarus asks neighbors for documents on Nazi crimes to prove genocide

November 9, BPN. Belarus intends to obtain documents on Nazi crime perpetrators from Poland and Germany to prove killings of Belarusians during World War II can be classified as genocide, Prosecutor General Andrej Švied told students at one of the Minsk universities.

“We closely monitor and insist that they fulfill their obligations in the framework of agreements on legal assistance,” he said.

Lithuania and Latvia have already refused to share documents with Belarus, he noted. “We will not get any help from these states, because their authorities protect Nazi criminals, including those still alive and marching in the streets,” he said.

Belarusian Prosecutor General’s Office has not received any response to more than ten requests for legal assistance from Germany, he said noting that Belarus will insist that Germany provides the requested documents.

Minsk has sent similar requests to the USA, Chile, Brazil, Australia, and other countries. Some South American countries “already engage in direct specific legal dialogue with regard to certain people,” Švied noted.

The official added that Belarus is receiving large amounts of information from Russian archives that would help identify previously unknown places of mass executions.

After the 2020 post-election protests, officials in Minsk have been promoting a theory that the Belarusians suffered genocide at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators during WWII. On April 9, 2021 Švied announced that his office had opened a genocide case. The prosecutor general also edited a book that likened participants in 2020 peaceful protests to the Nazis.

On January 5, 2022 Alaksandr Łukašenka signed a law establishing criminal liability for publicly denying the genocide. “The implementation of the Law will contribute to preventing distortion of the Great Patriotic War’s outcomes, as well to uniting the Belarusian society,” his press service said.

Russian and Belarusian propaganda has also promoted a false narrative that portrays Ukrainian politicians and soldiers as Nazis.