Opinion: Belarusians remember lessons of the past and learn from their ancestors’ experience
The Rector of the Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Vyacheslav Danilovich, shared views on how the historical policy is being implemented in Belarus, and what role it plays in ensuring the national security
“History is the basis of ideology, and ideology is the basis of politics. Accordingly, the purpose of distorting the past is to impose someone else's ideology and to pursue a policy in someone else's interests as a result – thus depriving peoples and states of sovereignty. History is the most powerful means of mobilising a sense of the people’s collective identity, and it can equally act as an instrument of integration and creation, and as a split of society. Actually, historical memory creates an ideological basis for formation of a personality, civic and patriotic features,” Mr. Danilovich said.
According to the historian, a well-thought-out and comprehensive implementation of the state historical policy plays a huge role in resisting attempts to distort and falsify the facts of the past. “Thanks to the support of the state and a principled position of the President, we are doing a lot in this direction – primarily, objective scientific research of the past is conducted from the perspective of our people, and educational literature is based on these studies. The laws On Preventing Rehabilitation of Nazis and Their Accomplices and On Genocide of Belarusian People have been adopted. In addition, a state holiday – National Unity Day – is celebrated in the country on September 17th; it is directly related to the process of real reunification of the Belarusian people in the autumn of 1939. In February 2022, the Republican Council for Historical Policy under the President Administration was established, and it functions fruitfully. We remember the lessons of the past, and we learn from the experience of our ancestors,” Mr. Danilovich stressed.
