Preserving memory and historical truth

The House of Representatives adopted in two readings the draft law ‘On the Genocide of the Belarusian People’

Last week, those present in the Oval Hall of the House of Government put an end to the discussions on whether to consider what happened during the Great Patriotic War as genocide of the Belarusian people. Deputies of the House of Representatives adopted the relevant bill in two readings at once. Moreover, the document not only recognises the very fact of the genocide of Belarusians, but also introduces criminal liability for its denial.

Our sovereignty and independence have always been based on a common historical memory, including about the events of the Great Patriotic War. To forget about it means to betray the people who gave us the peace. That is why the implementation of the provisions of the already adopted Law ‘On the Genocide of the Belarusian People’ is aimed at perpetuating the memory of the victims of the genocide and is designed to bring information and educational work to form an adequate moral and socio-political position of citizens to a new level. Chairman of the House of Representatives, Vladimir Andreichenko, emphasises that this law also has an important political significance, 

“By adopting this bill, we condemn the greatest crime of Nazi Germany and its accomplices, which was committed in the history of mankind. Indeed, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, 60 million people actually died. Of these, about 30 million are citizens of the Soviet Union. Every third inhabitant of Belarus died.”

The law also envisages a number of necessary measures to recognise the genocide of the Belarusian people at international level, since today there are constant attempts to erase WWII from memory and rewrite many different aspects of history.
“This is immoral and criminal,” said Lyudmila Zdorikova, a member of the Permanent Commission on Human Rights, National Relations and Mass Media of the House of Representatives. “The General Prosecutor’s Office, in accordance with the provisions of the law, will continue to work to establish new facts confirming the genocide of our people.”
Lilia Ananich, Deputy Chairperson of the same commission, voiced a solidarity position during the sixth session. According to her, Belarusians have the right and must give a fair assessment of the atrocities of the Nazis and their accomplices. Some of them, by the way, are still alive. As well as those who now allow themselves to blatantly lie about the feat of our grandfathers. However, now they face criminal liability under the new legislation, particularly for any denial of the fact of the genocide of Belarusians in a public speech, in a printed or publicly displayed work, in the media and even in information posted on the Internet.

By Yulia Demeshko
Photo by Yulia Demeshko