On International Children's Day the unique memorial in Belarus, the only one in the world dedicated to child victims of WWII, traditionally hosted a meeting to commemorate the memory of tens of thousands of lives lost in Nazi concentration camps. During the Great Patriotic War the Nazis created a brutal "blood donor conveyor" - in 1943 they set up a camp in the village of Krasny Bereg near Belarusian Zhlobin. In the most barbaric way the Nazis took the blood from innocent children for the Hitler army. In the 21st century the memorial was erected at the place of the murder of 1,990 people. The memorial was designed by a group of architects under the supervision of Leonid Levin, the Khatyn Memorial author. Visitors are welcomed at the entrance by a bronze figurine of a girl with arms up and crossed. The Sun Square sends out alleys-rays, with one named Ray of Memory crossing an empty classroom with 21 white desks and a blackboard featuring Katya Susanina’s letter to her father. The memorial also features heart-stirring glass paintings and a symbol of children’s broken dreams, a Paper Shiplet…
The memorial in Krasny Bereg is surrounded by an old apple garden that became another symbol of the horrible tragedy of the village. A legend says that local botanist Nezvedsky planted Chinese apple trees here which turn poppy red in spring and get covered with ruby apples in autumn.
The memorial is located in Krasny Bereg village, Zhlobin District, Gomel Region, Belarus
