Memorial Complex Dalva

June 19, 1944 will forever remain one of the most tragic dates in the history of Belarus. On that day, Nazi punishers surrounded the small village of Dalva. Within just a few hours, 44 people perished here. Among them were not only local residents but also random people who happened to be in this place at that fateful hour.

Only one person survived — thirteen-year-old Nikolay Girilovich. The boy was grazing a horse not far from the village. Hearing the explosions and gunfire, he climbed a hill and saw his native Dalva engulfed in flames. Children tried to escape through the roofs of burning houses, but no one managed to survive.

The bodies of the victims lay in the open air for ten days. When the front line moved on and Soviet troops liberated the area, the remains were buried in a mass grave. The dead were identified not by their faces — only by fragments of clothing and shoes.

The first obelisk at the mass grave appeared in 1955. In 1963, it was replaced with a new one — featuring a five-pointed star and the inscription: «Descendants will not forget you».

However, the true Memorial Complex Dalva was created thanks to the efforts of Nikolay Girilovich himself. Together with his wife, sculptor Nikolay Terebun, and colleagues at work, he achieved the creation of a large-scale monument on the site of the tragedy.

The grand opening of the Memorial Complex Dalva took place on July 15, 1973.

The path to the memorial is paved with gray tiles. At its beginning lies a stone with an engraved inscription: «Until June 19, 1944, the village of Dalva was here. 10 days before liberation, the Nazis burned its residents alive».

The Wall of Memory — here the names of all 44 residents killed on that day are immortalized.

The sculpture «Mother and Child» — a four-meter figure of a woman on a low pedestal. A boy clings to her, wrapping his arms around her. In the mother's stern face — wisdom and deep faith in people. This is a monument to all mothers who lost their children in the fire of war.

The Village Street — along the sides of the path, the foundations of burned houses remain. Each has two steps, as if inviting visitors to return.

Today, five models of burned houses stand here. The Mass Grave is marked by a cross. The names and ages of the victims are carved on marble slabs. At the end of the street — a large boulder.

In 2009, an exhibition titled «Dalva: Heroism, Tragedy, Mercy» opened on the memorial grounds. It features archival photographs and documents that tell the history of the village from the end of the 17th century, as well as materials about the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War.

In 2013, the complex was renovated: the exhibition was updated, the «Mother and Child» sculpture was repaired, the Wall of Memory was restored, and symbolic wreaths of sorrow were placed on the house foundations.

Memorial Complex Dalva is included in the State List of Historical and Cultural Values of the Republic of Belarus. Thousands of people from different countries come here every year. The guest book contains entries in Belarusian, Russian, English, German, and other languages.

«We come here not only to honor the memory of the victims but also to pass on the truth about those terrible events to our children» — these words are spoken at every memorial ceremony.

Dalva no longer exists on the map. But people keep coming here. To bow their heads. To remember. Fresh flowers always lie at the foot of the monument — in memory of all innocent victims of war.