Lukashenko: we did not recall the period of Belarus’ split not so long ago, but this lesson is already learned
In Belarus, it was not customary to recall the period of the country's split until recently in the name of friendship with the Polish people, but those in Poland has taken it for weakness – as stated by the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, during We are Belarusians! patriotic forum dedicated to National Unity Day
The Head of State noted, “Our compatriots born under Polish occupation – who know about the danger of losing their homeland and breaking away from their families – can tell a lot. They know what it means to live in their native land, but to be an outcast in the eyes of privileged fellow citizens for many decades. They understand why the republic celebrated the day of liberation of the workers of Western Belarus from Polish lords, from occupation, from oppression on September 17th. No matter how the name [of the holiday] changed, it objectively reflected its chief matter.”
As noted by Aleksandr Lukashenko, Belarus almost did not recall that dramatic time – the period of the country’s split – not so long ago, “Everything has gone into the shadow of the global tragedy of the Great Patriotic War, WWII. That terrible inhuman slaughter pushed everything aside. It was not customary to recall that time in the name of Soviet-Polish friendship, which – as we though then – would be eternal. We, Belarusians, did not accuse our neighbours, but we always remembered how schools, our faith, land and natural resources were taken away from Belarusians, how our ancestors died without medical care, how all those who were devoted to their native culture, faith, language and traditions were morally and physically humiliated and destroyed. Is it possible to forget how guns were fired at Belarusian villages, how Belarusian children were beaten with rods in foreign schools, how Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians were cunningly tortured in Poland’s Bereza Kartusk concentration camp? These are all facts!”
The President of Belarus added: for the sake of friendship with the Polish people, Belarusians have stepped over that pain. “Those on the other side of the Bug River have taken that as weakness. But we have learned the lesson,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
