“Xotira” memorial majmuasi

The "Pamyats" memorial complex in Baranavichy is centred on a 1964 monument: a 2.2-metre figure of a mourning woman standing before a 2.6-metre concrete wall with iron grates. A memorial wreath lies at the figure's feet, and a plaque bears a Belarusian inscription commemorating 31,000 Soviet citizens shot or tortured in 1941–44.

In 1941 the German occupiers set up a branch of the Lesnaya death camp on the grounds of the Baranavichy prison, holding up to 20,000 Soviet prisoners of war at a time. The able-bodied were deported to work in Germany; the rest were shot or died of cold, hunger and disease in the open air. A 1964 monument commemorates 31,000 Soviet citizens shot or tortured here between 1941 and 1944.

The Belarusian name "Pamiats" means "memory"; the Uzbek name "Xotira" means the same. The monument's inscription calls on contemporaries and descendants to bow their heads to 31,000 Soviet citizens shot or tortured in 1941–44. A woman in mourning, a memorial wreath and the lines on the board are the elements visitors see.

The memorial stands on the site of the former prison camp in Baranavichy. The monument is a concrete wall 2.6 m high with iron bars and a 2.2 m figure of a mourning woman; the inscription on the board names 31,000 Soviet citizens shot or tortured in 1941–44. Visitors can lay flowers at the wreath at the foot of the figure.

The monument erected in 1964 is not only a figure: behind the 2.2 m mourning woman stands a concrete wall 2.6 m high with iron bars, and at her feet lies a memorial wreath. The inscription board gives the figure of 31,000 Soviet citizens shot or tortured in 1941–44.