Countries must present a united front to prevent the resurgence of fascism, Defense Minister of Belarus Viktor Khrenin said at the Fourth International Anti‑Fascist Congress, held at the Central Officers’ House in Minsk, BelTA has learned.
Viktor Khrenin reminded that fascism as the [state] system of Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945 and condemned by the International Military Tribunal. “And that is a historical fact not subject to any revision. However, regrettably, and perhaps even to the shame of humanity, the ideology of fascism has not been definitively vanquished. It has mutated and adapted. That, too, is a fact. Modern Nazism has long disguised itself, cloaking itself in the rhetoric of the fight for democracy and human rights. But now we see that it no longer hides; it has revealed its true face and shifted from the fringes into the state apparatus,” the minister added.
“In countries bordering ours, decisions have been made at the state level to destroy monuments to the feat of the Soviet people; marches are held by Nazis and collaborators; Russophobia and historical revisionism are rampant. The fact that the ideology of fascism is beginning to raise its head again causes us great alarm,” Viktor Khrenin emphasized.
He noted that this has become possible due to efforts to forget, distort, and rewrite the history of the Great Patriotic War and the heroism of the Soviet people and the Soviet soldier. “And therein lies the importance and relevance of the Anti-Fascist Congress. It is vitally necessary for us today. Our voice, the voice of truth, must be heard here. There must be no gray areas or nuances,” the defense minister asserted. “And we see that our fourth Anti-Fascist Congress has drawn genuine interest from many nations and countries; today it is attended by representatives of roughly 40 states. There are delegates from Germany, France, Austria, the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom.”
“The Great Victory must not simply be remembered; there must be no doubt that it happened and that the Soviet people accomplished the greatest of feats. The attempts by Western countries to rewrite history are nothing other than the revival of modern Nazism,” Viktor Khrenin emphasized.
In his words, humanity is undergoing a test of its resilience and its understanding of historical lessons, namely whether we will let history run its tragic course again and drown our land in blood. “We cannot allow that to happen. That is why we are holding this congress, where we affirm that the Great Victory is an established fact. But, unfortunately, the war over memory and the struggle for ideology continues. And in order to prevent the resurgence of Nazism and fascism, we must all unite on a common front and speak about this loudly and clearly,” Viktor Khrenin concluded.