"The Truth About The War In Belarus Was Forbidden"
- 9.05.2025, 20:18
What does the date of May 9 mean to Belarusians?
Is it appropriate to celebrate the end of World War II on this very day? The site Charter97.org talked about it with the Belarusian opposition politician, head of the solidarity movement "Razam" Vyacheslav Sivchik:
- The date of May 9 means nothing to Belarusians. The Second World War ended in Europe on May 8. And the whole Europe celebrates this day. The victory over Nazi Germany is a great victory. Belarusians should never forget that they are a nation of winners. A nation that, together with other nations, defeated Nazism. But there is a big difference in the fact that this victory did not bring freedom to Belarusians.
In Belarus, there is a well-established tradition to celebrate this day on May 8 - on the initiative of the Belarusian Association of Servicemen (Belarusian Zgurtavannya Vaiskaўtsau), which was headed by Nikolai Statkevich. Back in the 90s, there was a tradition to hold actions at military cemeteries in memory of the victims and heroes of World War II.
The war affected every Belarusian family, and Belarus is the European country that suffered the greatest losses in World War II. Therefore, the date of May 8 should not be forgotten by Belarusians - instead of using Stalin's May 9.
- Lukashist and Putin's ideologists attach a cornerstone, almost religious significance to the events of World War II. What do the results of this war really mean for the Belarusians? Is it appropriate for Belarusians to call this war a "domestic" war?
- It is not a "domestic" war for the Belarusian nation.
The consequences of the First Imperialist War of 1914-1918, when Belarus lost every fourth inhabitant, were horrifying. At that time, the fighting took place on its territory, and it was here that the frontline between Germany and Russia - the future border between interwar Poland and the Soviet Union according to the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921 - passed.
The Second World War was even more terrible for Belarus, because it was on our territory that two totalitarian regimes, which started the war in 1939, collided again. These were Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. The Second World War also claimed a huge number of lives of Belarusians - more than a quarter of the population was destroyed. The overwhelming majority of the male population was annihilated during this terrible war. Naturally, it is simply impossible to forget it.
And one should not forget that while our ancestors were fighting, Russian security officers, who like to talk about the war, but were in the rear, were sitting behind their backs. Belarus suffered much more horrible events, more people were killed than in many other countries.
I will never forget how we came to the memorial action in the village of Mikolaevo in Shumilinsky district of Vitebsk region, where a column of prisoners from Gluboko prison was shot in June 1941. Nazi Germany's invasion of Belarus resulted in the NKVD shooting 12 columns of prison and camp inmates as they were driven eastward. One elderly man, an eyewitness of those events, told how terribly people were shot right in the center of the village - 2000 people. And, by the way, he added: "And then, when "ours" were retreating, they burned the whole village."
The tragedy of the Belarusian nation lies in these words - "ours burned the village". Because it was forbidden to tell the truth about the war under the Communists. And now it is also impossible to talk about what was done not only by the NKVD, but also by the Soviet partisans, who also destroyed Belarusians. Communists under Stalin used the victory of free peoples over Nazism to justify their power. Virtually no other episode in the history of the Soviet Union could be used to prove that communist power was necessary.
And this distorted legacy of history is now supported by Lukashenko and Putin. It is no coincidence that under Lukashenko's rule, monuments to Stalin are erected, and a sham "Stalin's Line" appears near Minsk, where there were no battles in 1941. These monsters - Putin and Lukashenko - do not need the memory of the war. They need to justify their criminal power as if it were legitimate. That's why they constantly talk about the terrible World War II, insultingly calling it "the Great Patriotic War".
- What day and what event for Belarusians can actually be celebrated as Victory Day?
- It's the victory over the Lukashist regime - it's Freedom Day! And this day will still come. And it will be happiness for the whole Belarusian nation.