media; the leaders of the Soviet republics worried about the inviolability of unity between the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples. Khatyn Memorial Khatyn became a symbol of mass killings of the civilian population during the fighting between partisans, German troops, and collaborators. In 1969, it was named the national war memorial of the Byelorussian SSR. Among the best-recognized symbols of the memorial complex is a monument with three birch trees, with an eternal flame instead of a fourth tree, a tribute to the one in every four Belarusians who died in the war. There is also a statue of Yuzif Kaminsky carrying his dying son, and a wall with niches to represent the victims of all the concentration camps, with large niches representing those with more than 20,000 victims. Bells ring every 30 seconds to commemorate the rate at which Belarusian lives were lost throughout the duration of the Second World War. Part of the memorial is a Cemetery of villages with 185 tombs. Each tomb symbolizes a particular village in Belarus that was torched along with its population. Among the foreign leaders who have visited the Khatyn Memorial during their time in office are Richard Nixon of the US, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Rajiv Gandhi of India, Yasser Arafat of the PLO, and Jiang Zemin of China. According to Norman Davies, the Khatyn massacre was deliberately exploited by the Soviet authorities to cover up the Katyn massacre, and this was a major reason for erecting the memorial – it was done in order to cause confusion with Katyn among foreign visitors. In 2004, the Memorial was renovated. According to 2011 data, the Memorial was in the top ten of the most attended tourist sites in Belarus – that year it was visited by 182,000 people. See also Come and See, 1985 film about the massacre German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II Koriukivka massacre Ležáky and Lidice List of massacres in Belarus Michniów Oradour-sur-Glane massacre Vladimir Katriuk References External links Khatyn Museum Remembering the Khatyn Massacre by Meilan Solly, Smithsonian (magazine) March 22, 2021 Catalog of Pins and Medals Commemorating the Khatyn Massacre and Memorial Site The Khatyn Massacre in Belorussia: A Historical Controversy Revisited by Per Anders Rudling, from Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Volume 26, Issue 1, Spring 2012, Pages 29–58; Source abstract 1943 in Belarus 1943 murders in the Soviet Union Belarus in World War II Genocides