Liavon Volski: "If anyone thinks that it's possible to negotiate with today's heirs of Soviet torturers and murderers, they are gravely mistaken"

Bloody terror, sprinkled with yellow sand

The Night of Executed Poets is approaching. In 1937, on the night of October 29-30, more than a hundred representatives of the Belarusian intelligentsia were executed in the NKVD's internal prison.

This was shamefully hushed up under the Soviets. Communists generally had no habit of repenting for their crimes. At most – "excesses." And the fact that thousands, tens, hundreds of thousands of innocent people died from these "excesses" – well, "that was just the time." And that's it. Let's move on. And these crimes trail behind the authorities like a long dirty-red plume across the yellow sand…

The bosses were silent, and the people, looking at them, were silent. And if everyone is silent, then maybe nothing happened?

The truth creeps through all possible cracks

The current leadership of the Republic of Belarus would gladly use this old tactic. But times are different now – the internet, iPhones-and-such, and all that – the truth reaches the public through all possible cracks, you can't hide it, you can't sprinkle it with yellow sand.

This is no longer a Soviet submarine from which you can't escape, where there are only a few state newspapers, a radio point, and three television programs telling you how well you actually live, unlike the oppressed Black people in America!

Hypocritical game

But the Belarusian authorities continue to play a hypocritical game – about the USSR, it's either good or nothing (in the original, "except for the truth" is added to "or nothing," but these words were lost somewhere along with the meaning of the aphorism). Therefore, propagandists and agitators lash out with criticism (in fact, with shouts and curses) at those ("the escaped," because no one in Belarus would dare anymore) who honor it, saying, "politicking, denigration of the heroic Soviet past, an attempt to split society, playing the victim card" – a familiar set of stale ideological clichés.

The "mouthpieces of the regime" also lash out at the victims of terror – they are both "national democrats" and "guilty themselves because they wrote denunciations"...

In Soviet times, the ill-informed people (all information was received from "enemy voices" and quiet, whispered conversations in kitchens) suspected that something was wrong; films and TV shows depicted one life, but in reality, it differed greatly from the cheerful picture. But in Belarus, people know perfectly well what and how was done in Soviet times, and what and how is being done now – in the world and in Belarus – but are forced to play loyal, because the repressive system has changed little since those very Stalinist times and still works without failures – after "professional influence" you will certainly confess to what you are accused of, no matter how fantastic the charges.

This is what will eventually collapse the seemingly unshakable power in Belarus – lies, omissions, hypocrisy, silence… Instead of ideology – the glorification of the Soviet past, but everyone knows that that time was not just about red carnations and confidence in tomorrow. Even those who nostalgically recall the Soviet Union as a time of their youth, activity, and fun, still know deep down how it all really was.

The heirs of the torturers cannot be trusted

The Soviet government, like the current Belarusian authorities, cannot be trusted. "Belarusianization has begun today – return from abroad, join in the creation of a new country!" – cheerfully called out the young, energetic leadership in pure Belarusian. How many political refugees believed the emotional invitations of the Soviet government and returned to Belarus to contribute, to lead, not to be aside from nation-building processes! And what fate awaited them as a result?

Павялічыць

And if anyone thinks that it's possible to negotiate with today's heirs of those torturers and murderers, they are gravely mistaken. Because Soviet criteria remain unchanged – there is power, and all means are good for its preservation. And that's it. There is nothing else.

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Texts in the "Opinions" section may or may not coincide with the Editorial Board's position.

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