Zinaida Petrovna Lemeshkova provides a recollection of her family’s harrowing experiences during World War II, particularly focusing on their time at the Azaryčy concentration camp. She paints a picture of the camp’s grim conditions, detailing the hardships of hunger, illness, and the emotional toll of witnessing what happened in the camp. She recounts how they were liberated by the Red Army when all hope for survival seemed to have been dashed. On their way to the camp, the soldiers cleared numerous mines that the German army had left behind to slow down the advance of their enemies.
„Wir dachten nicht daran, dass wir irgendwann befreit werden — jeder hat auf den eigenen Tod gewartet. Aber wir wurden befreit und noch an demselben Tag haben die Soldaten einen engen Weg von Minen entschärft (das Territorium um das Lager “Osaritschi” herum war miniert) und halfen den am Leben gebliebenen Menschen herauszugehen. Wir weinten vor Glück und die Soldaten weinten, als sie uns sahen, ausgemergelte Kinder und Greise sowie Berge von Leichen, die den Tag der Befreiung nicht mehr erleben konnten.“1 (German original)
“We didn’t think that we would be liberated at some point — everyone was waiting for their own death. But we were liberated and that very day the soldiers cleared a narrow path of mines (the territory around the camp “Azaryčy” was mined) and helped the people who were left alive to get out. We cried with happiness and the soldiers cried when they saw us, emaciated little children and the elderly, and mountains of corpses of those who could not live to see the day of liberation.” (Translation of the German original)
