At 4 a. m. wreaths with burning remembrance candles were lowered in the waters of the Bug River flowing past the walls of the fortress, which was the first to receive the blow dealt at the dawn of June 22 by Nazi troops in Soviet territory. Artillery salvoes were fired in memory of the fallen in the first minutes of the war.
A "Memory Train" arrived in Brest from Moscow. The veterans-defenders of Brest Fortress, Moscow schoolchildren, representatives of public associations came by it to take part in the commemorative action at the walls of the famous citadel.
In another Belarussian city - Grodno, which was also the first to receive the blow of the Nazi army, a solemn meeting in memory of the first days of the war and its first victims is being held.
A memorial complex to solders--border-guards will be unveiled in Grodno. It was built on voluntary donations, assistance from republican organizations, the Grodno public and the border departments of a number of Commonwealth states.
Events organized by the German embassy and timed to this tragic date will be held in Minsk. The conference " 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Belarus: A Joint Clarification of Destinies and Reconciliation" will be held in the House of Friendship. During the conference, representatives of the association "Saxon Memorials" will tell the conferees in detail about the discovered documents telling about the destinies of Soviet officers who died in Nazi captivity.
