Today's young people are good successors of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, chairman of the regional branch of the Belarusian association of former juvenile prisoners of fascism, a veteran of the Armed Forces Vladimir Semochkin told BelTA in Brest on 28 July.
Brest celebrated the 75th anniversary of its liberation from Nazi invaders. Among the participants of the events was the son of the Brest Fortress defender Vladimir Semochkin. His father, political instructor Ilya Semochkin was captured and killed by the Nazis on 24 June 1941. At that moment Vladimir was two. He had his fair share of grief and losses during the war. "This is why I have mixed feelings on this day," he said.
“On the one hand, it is certainly a joy, it is a celebration of liberation. We, former prisoners, went through concentration camps and prisons and we know firsthand what fascism was about. At the same time, we remember those who are not with us. It is thanks to their lives that we are alive today. Sky, sun, beautiful city, wonderful people... this is all thanks to them. I think that today's youth is understanding, intelligent, and are worthy successors of their grandfathers and great grandfathers,” Vladimir Semochkin noted.
He remembered the Brest of 1945. “Everything has changed, of course, to the extent of being unrecognizable. I just envy those people who will live here in a hundred, a thousand years! Our people are wonderful, hard working. This is why I am sure that the city and the country will prosper,” he said.
On 28 July Brest marked the anniversary of liberation from the Nazi invaders. The celebration events started with a ceremony of laying flowers and wreaths at the monument to the warriors-liberators of 47 units and formations of the 1st Belarusian Front.
Source: information agency BelTA
