Past Is Not Dead :: Charter'97 :: News

William Folkner’s words best fit in the modern state of affairs in Belarus. Since late last week the authorities have been trying hard to dig under asphalt the remains of the victims of Stalinist repressions, buried in Kuropaty. At first glance this may look absurd. Some may be even tempted to think that the authorities are simply economizing money by building the road across the cemetery. Certain media presented the conflict as another petty clash between the authorities and their opponents. However, the events unfurling in Kuropaty these days, unveiled a more serious problem – contemporary followers of Bolsheviks continue their red terror.

Among all numerous wars, waged by Alexander Lukashenko so far, his war against symbols stands separate from the rest. Being a clear Soviet product, Lukashenko started reanimating everything that’s Soviet. One of his first actions on the post was the replacement of the national state symbols by the Soviet-type ones. Kuropaty is another historically important place, sort of a Belarusian necropolis. There are dozens of such places in the country. But in late 80ies Kuropaty became symbolic of Stalinist atrocities. Throughout the years the adherents of Joseph Stalin sought to eliminate the image of Kuropaty, with drooling rage convincing everyone that the bones, unearthed in Kuropaty, belong to the victims of fascist terror. During the period, when the state procuracy was still submissive to the communist party, the investigators, acting on material evidence, managed to prove that the Kuropaty was the tomb of victims of the socialistic experiment.

Then the unidentified criminals started taking revenge against Kuropaty by regularly destroying the memorial signs there. In response to yet another desecration of tombs, police only shrugged their shoulders. But ordinary people kept taking care of the site, reinstalling the destroyed objects. It was like that until October 2001.

Following his “elegant victory at elections” (as Lukashenko himself put it) the head of state determined to shoot his opponents dead. One day the road near Kuropaty was filled with trucks and bulldozers. Thus, the authorities decided to run a ring road on the tombs of the innocent victims of communism. However, the road works were stopped by a group of young men and women from youth organizations, who pitched their camp in Kuropaty, erecting dozens of Orthodox, Catholic and other crosses. They stayed on night watch at the place too.

Then the authorities stepped up a cunning trick. They made an illusion as if they agreed to compromise with the public and even accepted their conditions, concerning the construction of the Kuropaty memorial. In the meantime, though, they continued road works on both sides of the place. That’s how the hangman’s hands usually crawl to the victim’s throat in order to clutch it and strangle.

Then everything pretty much followed the 1988 pattern, when the first mass march to Kuropaty took place. Back then police dispersed the crowd with rubber clubs and tear gas. Now, muscular guys from the riot police brutally beat young people, applying grenades with tear gas and snatching away the first aid kits, so that the wounded couldn’t get first medical care on the spot. They brought down the crosses with bulldozers. Oh, what a dreadful scene, born by the political Satanists!

The sides’ forces aren’t equal. But the picketers do not succumb to police, although many of them are placed under arrest. That’s how the past unexpectedly turned into present. Was it really so unexpected?

Again, it seems symbolic that the Kuropaty beating took place shortly after yet another anniversary of the October coup. Recently Alexander Lukashenko said in his speech that owing to the revolution Belarus obtained real statehood and learnt how to build a civilized, modern, democratic state. He added that by following in the footsteps of the Great October Belarus would blossom both spiritually and economically.

Belarusian ruler made mention of Russia too. However, in Russia they no longer celebrate November 7 as the Soviet holiday, but rather as the day of national reconciliation. This definition is, of course, quite doubtful but at least it is different now. Last Wednesday, for instance, the pro-governmental movement took to the streets under slogans, which unambiguously hinted at the necessity to get rid of the revolutionary edifice.

In fact, the Afghani Taliban is a closer relative to the Belarusian regime. Upon mullah Omar’s order they’d blown up Buddha’s statues. Alexander Lukashenko also gave green light to the destruction of the sacred place, thus proving that medieval barbarity has neither time nor geographic boundaries.