Public prayer at Stalin-era mass grave site near Minsk

1 May 2019. Activist Nina Bahinskaya in Kurapaty

On May 1, a number of activists gathered together on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the first multi-religious prayer in Kurapaty.

Public prayer in Kurapaty

Plainclothes policeman filming participants in public prayer in Kurapaty
Public prayer in Kurapaty, 1 May 2019
Public prayer in Kurapaty, 1 May 2019
Politician Vyachaslau Siuchyk during public prayer in Kurapaty, 1 May 2019
Cross in Kurapaty
Public prayer in Kurapaty, 1 May 2019

Kurapaty is a Stalin-era mass grave site near Minsk, where the NKVD executed and buried tens of thousands of people in 1930-40s.

On April 4, the news about driving bulldozers and other building machinery to Kurapaty Forest hit the headlines in domestic and foreign media outlets. About 70 crosses were rooted out; over a dozen activists and politicians who were trying to stop workers, were detained.

Kurapaty crosses case hits foreign media headlines

On April 13, representatives of pro-government organizations took part in a ‘subbotnik’, a so-called volunteer clean-up, in Kurapaty. At the same time, the special services continued to remove Kurapaty crosses.

Hundreds of crosses were installed by Belarusian activists who felt it their duty to pay the tribute to the memory of the executed. It was not until 2018 that the authorities directed their attention to Kurapaty: an official memorial to the victims was erected at the order of the Federation of the Trade Unions. Back in 1989, the BSSR Council of Ministers signed a decree to perpetuate the memory of the victims in Kurapaty. In 1993, the memorial was granted the status of historical and cultural value ​​of international importance. However, after Lukashenka came to power, the Kurapaty topic was silenced. Incidentally, over his 25-year rule, the head of the country has never visited the place.

It should be noted that the crosses and the work on their installation cost the Belarusian people thousands of rubles. The state did not allocate a penny; a fundraising campaign was launched to collect the corresponding sum of money.

As reported earlier, the decision the ‘anti-cross’ campaign started after Lukashenka slammed ‘ demonstrating with crosses’ in Kurapaty during The Big Conversation With President on March, 1. However, he also promised that there would never be sort of Stalinism in Belarus, even ‘under the dictatorship of Lukashenka’.

However, while the authorities call the dismantling of the crosses ‘site improvement’, Kurapaty defenders believe it to be a state-run vandalism act. Apparently, the so-called ‘improvement’ has tarnished the image of the Belarusian authorities.

Photos by Artsyom Lyava, Belsat.eu

News