Belgium Inaugurates Memorial To WWII Soviet Soldiers In Rebecq Municipality

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2019) The memorial to the Soviet soldiers who fought within the Belgian Resistance units against the Nazi Germany during World War II was inaugurated on Saturday in the Rebecq municipality of the Wallonia region several miles south-west from Brussels.

The memorial tablet was installed in Rebecq's cemetery at the initiative of The Belgians Remember Them patriotic association at the grave of Vladimir Talda, a Soviet national who fought side-by-side with the Belgian guerrillas during World War II and died there in fall 1944 at the age of 19.�

The inauguration ceremony was organized jointly by the Rebecq authorities and the Russian Embassy to Belgium. Among the high attendees were Russian Ambassador to Brussels Alexander Tokovinin, Governor of Walloon Brabant� Gilles Mahieu, Burgomaster Patricia Venturelli, representatives of the Belgian Defense Ministry and civil society.

"I am convinced that as the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches, events like this play an extremely important role because they inspire to remember the common historic legacy and strengthen the close friendly ties between peoples," Tokovinin said at the ceremony.

The Russian ambassador thanked the Rebecq municipality and local activists for perpetuating "the feat of the Soviet soldiers and officers who fought against the Nazis and died on the Belgian soil," and pointed at the symbolism behind schoolchildren from Belgium and Russia laying flowers at the memorial together.

According to Burgomaster Venturelli, some 15 Soviet soldiers joined the Belgian Resistance in 1944, after fleeing the forced labor camps of the Nazis.

"Remembering [Vladimir Talda] today, we commemorate all Soviet soldiers who fought in a foreign country for its freedom," she said, stressing the importance of preserving the memory about World War II in order "not to repeat the mistakes of the past."

Governor Mahieu, in turn, emphasized that "in times when the historic relativism is gearing up, it is important as ever to appeal to history in order to explain, analyze and illustrate," especially important "in the world where fake news are shown as the truth."

"Negation and relativism are unacceptable in relation to the Nazism because it may lead us to new terrible mistakes," the governor said, mentioning his concern over the lack of knowledge on this matter among peers today.

The speakers laid flowers to the memorial, after which the anthems of Russia, Belgium and Europe were played.

In 1942, the Nazis forced an approximate 20,000 captive Soviet soldiers in Belgium into labor at coal mines. Several hundreds of them fled and joined the Belgian guerrillas in their fight against the Nazi Germany. While there presently are more than 300 known burials of Soviet WWII partisans in Belgium, a bigger number of them remains unidentified, with the search and archival works underway. Memorials to Soviet soldiers have already been installed in Brussels, Liege, Namur, Leuven, Genk, Nidrum, Montignies-sur-Sambre, and Cointe.