A forensic medical examination of the bone remains found near the village of Sloboda, in the "Lisiny Nory" tract, was conducted.
The results are reported by Sergey Kiryanov, a member of the investigative team for the criminal case into the genocide of the Belarusian people by Nazi criminals during the Great Patriotic War in the Beshenkovichi district, and the district prosecutor's assistant:
— According to the experts' conclusion, — Sergey Alexandrovich reported, — the discovered bone remains belong to at least 65 individuals, including 4 women (it is not currently possible to provide a more precise statement on the exact number of buried people and their gender). The burial site is an execution pit located in a forest area, where the bodies of people were laid in several rows, each layer covered with soil, which suggests not a single-instance extermination of the civilian population. It is known that during the occupation, Nazi criminals took people to the forest, brutally killed them, and buried them.
The fact that the murdered were civilians was also confirmed by the examination of fragments of footwear, items, and personal belongings of the deceased, found by searchers and recovered from the burial. Sergey Alexandrovich Kiryanov conducted this examination together with a specialist – an expert of the State Committee of Forensic Examinations for the Beshenkovichi district of the Lepel inter-district department, Major of Justice Alexander Leonidovich Boboed. A significant amount of work has been done, and each item has been carefully examined.
— All fragments of footwear recovered from the burial site indicate that it was civilian, — said S. A. Kiryanov. — Alongside adult footwear, small-sized items were found, presumably children's or women's. The majority consists of rubber footwear, bearing the names of the factories where it was produced: the Leningrad factory "Krasny Treugolnik" and the Moscow factory "Krasny Bogatyr". Fragments of children's galoshes produced by a Polish factory are marked with the name "ARDAL". All discovered manufacturing dates range from 1938 to 1941. No footwear from 1942 or later years was found. The presence of personal belongings of the deceased among the remains also points to the execution of civilians in the forest area: a wallet with Soviet coins from 1938, small mirrors, buttons from civilian clothing, a razor, wrist watch straps, and hair combs.
All these findings collectively confirm the information about the mass extermination of civilians in 1942 in the "Lis'i Nory" tract, obtained from local residents during the investigation of the criminal case of genocide. This also corroborates the information contained in the 1945 reports of the Extraordinary State Commission, stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, which mention the execution of 350-365 civilians from the villages of Sloboda and Bortniki in 1942.
The perpetrators are identified by material evidence — ammunition from the war period discovered at the execution site (bullets and casings) fired from German weapons used by the Wehrmacht, some of which are marked with 1938 stamps and the SS emblem of two characteristic lightning bolts...
Already in November, Kiryanov reported, the examined items, bullets, and shell casings will be transferred by the prosecutor's office to the fund of the Beshenkovichi District Historical and Local Lore Museum, and the remains of the genocide victims will be honorably laid to rest and buried in the agro-town of Ulla, as required by the human laws of conscience, honor, and respectful attitude towards the memory of ancestors. It is our duty to do everything possible to ensure that the ashes of the fallen are committed to the earth, and that every page of the history of the Great Patriotic War is passed on to the younger generation.