Siarhiej Novikaŭ. In search of a precise number of Nazi victims in Belarus (on example of the Trascianiec death camp)

In the article, the author reveals the process of forming a scientific and public narrative regarding the calculation of the most accurate number of victims of the Nazi mass crimes in the area of the villages of Vialiki and Maly Trascianiec near Minsk in 1941–1944. The history of the issue in Belarusian scientific works and literature is revealed, the results of the study of the topic by German researchers are presented, the places of mass crimes are analyzed in the reflection of documentary sources, the current situation of the existing source research base is considered, a method of calculating the number of victims based on the criteria of “military archeology” is proposed. A call is articulated to Belarusian and foreign historical science to use scientific methods of work in studying the history of places of mass crimes, using the example of the Trascianiec death camp. A conclusion was made about the need to preserve in the collective memory the historical truth about the tragic past in the places of mass destruction of people in the tracts of Blahaŭščyna and Šaškaŭka, in the collective farm shed near the village of Maly Trascianiec.