Wanda Jaskiewicz

One of the 149 burned residents of Khatyn. (the only surviving photograph).

The furious fascists stormed the village of Khatyn and surrounded it. The villagers knew nothing about the fact that in the morning, 6 kilometers from Khatyn, partisans shelled a fascist convoy and killed a German officer. But the fascists had already passed a death sentence on innocent people. The entire population of Khatyn from small to great – old men, women, children were driven out of their homes and driven to the collective farm barn. The sick, old people were lifted out of bed with rifle butts, women with small and infant children were not spared.

When the whole population of the village was in the barn, the fascists locked the doors of the barn, covered it with straw, poured gasoline on it and set it on fire. The wooden barn instantly caught fire. Children were choking and crying in the smoke. Adults tried to save the children. Under the pressure of dozens of human bodies, the doors failed and collapsed. In burning clothes, seized by horror, people rushed to escape, but those who escaped from the flames, the fascists shot in cold blood with machine guns and machine guns. 149 people died, including 75 children under the age of 16. The village was looted and burned to the ground.