Monument to the children - victims of fascism

On the Brest-Tomashovka highway, near the village of Domachevo (junction Brest — Leplevka — Domachevo), stands the monument "Protest." This memorial serves as a reminder of the tragic events that took place during World War II. Many travelers embarking on excursions around Belarus notice this site, but not everyone knows its history.

The Tragedy of the Domachevo Orphanage

Between 1939 and 1941, an orphanage in Domachevo housed 84 children. On June 22, 1941, when the war began, there was no time to evacuate them, and they found themselves under occupation. Within the first year of the war, some of the children died from starvation, disease, and cruel medical experiments conducted by the Nazis. On September 23, 1942, the remaining 53 children, along with their caretaker Polina Grokholskaya, were taken to the forest near the village of Leplevka and executed.

The Creation of the Memorial

In 1952, a memorial obelisk was erected on the outskirts of Leplevka in memory of the slain children. Later, in 1987, the "Protest" monument was built—an eight-meter-high marble stele featuring bronze sculptures of children crying for help. The monument was designed by architects M. Tkachuk and G. Pashkov, with sculptor A. Solyatitsky. This site has become an important landmark for excursions in Belarus, drawing attention to the tragic events of that era.

Historical Facts

According to the regional newspaper "Zarya nad Bugom," the Domachevo orphanage was established in 1925 by Polish authorities. It housed orphans of different nationalities—Belarusians, Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews. By 1941, there were around 100 children in the orphanage, ranging in age from infants to 12-year-olds. Most of them had no parents or relatives.

On that fateful day, September 23, 1942, in the evening, a five-ton truck with six armed German soldiers arrived at the orphanage. The children were told they were being taken to Brest and were ordered to board the truck. A total of 55 children and their caretaker, Polina Alexandrovna Grokholskaya, were loaded into the vehicle. Only two children, Tosya Shakhmetova and Vitya Abramov, managed to jump out and escape. The rest were taken towards Dubitsa station, where, deep in the forest, 1.5 kilometers from the village of Leplevka, they were brutally executed. Thanks to local residents and partisans, the identities of most of the victims were established, though 23 names remain unknown to this day.

Visiting the Monument

Today, the "Protest" monument is an important memorial site that attracts tourists interested in history. It is a place worth visiting during an excursion in Belarus to pay tribute to the victims of war. If you want to learn more about similar historical sites, you can book an excursion and take a tour from Minsk to the memorial places of the Brest region.