In the autumn of 1941, fascist troops attacked Soviet military units in Bryansk. Red Army soldiers sought refuge in the dense Bryansk forests, and on October 24, 1941, a group of Soviet soldiers found themselves in the forest village of Khatsun in the Karachevsky district. At that time, the village housed not only local residents but also refugees from Bryansk and neighboring villages, hiding from bombings. In the evening, German scouts arrived in the village with prisoners. The Soviet soldiers freed the prisoners and killed three German soldiers. They were unaware that a German army order was in effect: for every German soldier killed, one hundred local residents would be executed.

On the morning of October 25, three squads of punishers gathered all the villagers. Some were executed with particular cruelty, others were shot, and the village was burned down. As a result of the Khatsun tragedy, 318 people died, including children.

In 1977, a memorial was opened at the site of the destroyed village. In 2009, the memorial complex was restored and supplemented with new objects designed by architect Alexander Panchenko.

One of these objects is the Memorial Museum. Its exhibition is divided into two parts. The first part, featuring tools and household items, tells about the peaceful life of the pre-war village. The second part is dedicated to the tragic events of October 25, 1941. At the entrance to the exhibition hall is a map of the Bryansk region marked with nearly 1000 burned villages and settlements, the histories of which can be learned through electronic terminals. This part of the museum also displays German photographs of mass shootings and executions, as well as lists of those executed. Bryansk artists created paintings depicting shocking scenes based on German reports and Soviet archival documents to illustrate the brutality of the retribution against the residents.

In the square near the museum, 28 granite steles have been installed, providing information about the victims of fascism in each of the 28 districts of the Bryansk region.

On the territory of the memorial complex, at the site of the mass grave of the tragedy's victims, slabs with the names of the deceased are arranged according to the order of the houses of the executed families.

Today, the memorial complex also features an Orthodox chapel with golden tears on its dome and an obelisk of military glory. Here, there is also a Wall of Remembrance with a six-meter sculptural group depicting an old man protecting a weeping mother with a child from bayonets. The author of the composition is sculptor Alexander Romashensky.