“Stalinist System is being restored in Belarus” :: Charter'97 :: News

The festive opening ceremony of the complex of defence structures “the Stalin Line” in Belarus, and rehabilitation of the name of one of the most murderous dictators of the 20th century are commented by the head of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Tatsyana Protska and the prisoner of Stalin Gulag labour camps Maya Klyashtornaya.

The head of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a historian Tatsyana Protska, who studied the history of political repressions in Belarus, believes that any event in the country, which is celebrated at such a large scale, has first of all a political character.

“Firstly, to restore the name of Stalin, no matter where, is it the Stalin Line or Suvorov academy, is a political event. The memory of Stalin is being restored in the country, and it does not mean only that Stalin was one of the most respected people in the 20th century. When a certain name is given, it means that the actions of this person are approved. And in reality the system of government built by Stalin is being re-established here, in all spheres of life. Even in minor things the totalitarian Soviet state is being restored”.

Reaction of the victims of the political repressions for the opening of the Stalin Line is the most emotional one. The daughter of the poet Todar Klyashtorny, shot in 1937, Maya Klyashtornaya, has spent about 18 years in Stalin Gulag. She says that she could not sleep the whole night before the opening of the Stalin Line.

“Every time Stalin’s name is mentioned, I feel as if I was in a grave under the ground. It would be hard for me to stand on the bus stop by Suvorov academy. I have expected that the academy would be renamed, but Stalin is returned there. It is like being roped on to this building and thrown stones at for me. Stalin’s portrait was displayed prominently in our barrack. And we have grown up this way. I cannot even pronounce this name”.