Wisdom Behind Bars And In Exile

Three years ago, a march of pensioners took place in Minsk for the first time.

Do you remember October 5th? Surely you remember. I remember it, too. It was an amazing day. The people were amazing. However, people have not gone anywhere — except geographically. Some are in exile, others are in prison, as it should be for Belarusians.

So, that same day, October 5, 2020. The day before, the “March for the Liberation of Political Prisoners” took place: blocked streets, disconnected internet, masked drummers, photographs of dead Belarusians on the walls of the Akrestsin Street Detention Center, water cannons, arrests. On Monday, all eyes are stuck on the lists of detainees, looking for acquaintances. No surprises. And suddenly — what is this? Pensioners took to the streets of Minsk. The March of Wisdom. Elderly people carry national flags and posters “Freedom for our grandchildren!” How did they appear there at the Red Church?

All Sunday actions were announced in Telegram channels indicating the place and time of the general gathering. No one said or warned anything about the pensioners’ march. However, they appeared seemingly out of nowhere with all the flags and posters. And they confidently moved along the avenue. They reached Victory Square, turned to the Linguistic University and began chanting: “Students are our pride!” And flags appeared from the windows of student classrooms.

Then they came out every Monday. And no one said “pensioners’ march” anymore, because these were really Marches of Wisdom. And not only pensioners took part in them — every Monday Belarusians of all ages came to the Red Church to support their compatriots. Nina Bahinskaya was surrounded by young girls so that no riot policeman could get close to her famous flag. Those who did not participate in the marches drove there to give the beautiful ladies — participants in the march — a ride home. People offered help, or simply gave the ladies words of admiration and support.

Today there are 42 pensioner political prisoners behind bars. Not all of them participated in that first march, but they all said the same thing: “There are many of us. Long live Belarus!” For some, like Alena Hnauk, this is already their third sentence. Others, like Natallia Piatrovich, received six years in prison under five articles of the Criminal Code for one comment. Still others, like Halina Dzierbysh, are on the list of terrorists for their friendship with Mikalai Autukhovich.

And don’t be surprised that the first things that come to mind are the names and stories of women. There were more of them at the Wisdom Marches. The other day one of its participants wrote to me: “Yes, there are many more women than men. Why? Men have a higher retirement age, do they work? Or is the repression against women a little softer? Or do men live shorter lives? Or are women the driving force of progress? It is our generation and the generation of our parents that allowed this chaos. We feel guilt. But we want to fix everything. We're not going very fast. We are being filmed openly by weaklings on cameras. But we go and chant the usual slogans for marches: “Long live Belarus!” “The protest will die out when the dictator dies!” And the one that still brings tears to my eyes: “Our children are the best!”

Another participant in the first Wisdom March does not remember how she found out about it, but recalls everything else is in detail. “I don’t remember how I found out about the pensioners’ march,” she says. “But it seemed completely logical.” Saturday — women's marches. Sunday — general marches. And on Monday there will be a march of pensioners, a March of Wisdom. For some reason there were no worries. There was confidence: of course, we will gather, and there will be many of us. And it turned out there weren’t just many of us — there were very, very many of us! All very different, from young retirees to elderly people. From sophisticated elegant beauties to very simple ones. From those who diligently prepared for this March — wore specially selected clothes, held witty posters — to those who came as if by chance. We were different there, and there was a sea of us! Students walked with us, supported us, and were also surprised and happy. And for the rest of my life, until the end of my days, this warm sunny day will be with me. And all those middle-aged, but beautiful and joyful people. The free people.”

I don’t know who has been pressing myths like “hide grandma’s passport” for many years. The thing is that Lukashenka was not elected by pensioners. Pensioners voted for the usual party nomenklatura Kebich. It was precisely active citizens who wanted change who voted for Lukashenka. The same age as those who took part in the Wisdom Marches in 2020. That’s why the participants in these marches felt guilty — it was the guilt for their generation, which allowed Lukashism to happen thirty years ago. That’s why they went out — despite the paddy wagons, riot police chains and prison sentences looming in front of them. Our conscientious, wise, mature Belarusians.

Both of my interlocutors are now in exile. They asked me to recall October 5 and the first Wisdom March. No, my dears, I don’t just recall it. I always have it in my memory.

Iryna Khalip, exclusively for Charter97.org

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