Day 3: From Minsk to Vilnius

Day 3 was a long day of travel, but I had time on the bus to reflect on the previous two days spent in Minsk. What I think I found the most interesting was the way in which all of the people we spoke to in Minsk spoke about their country. They have a very strong sense of nationalism. I expected this from the Belarusian professor we had dinner with on the first evening, but I had not expected to hear it so much from her students. I was surprised that the younger generation would still be so loyal to their country and their government. Our tour guide, for one, was about 22. She never blamed any problems of the country on the Belarusian government, or the Soviet leadership when she was talking about its history. Although it is hard to distinguish whether she spoke in the way she really felt, or if she was afraid to tell us her true opinions, the nationalistic perspective was very transparent. As we found out, she works for a government run travel agency, thus I would suspect that she is only allowed to present the history of Belarus and the current state of Belarus from a very specific and controlled point of view. Of the two students we had dinner with, the male student, expressed some desire to travel to other parts of Europe, however, the female student did not. She said that her country was beautiful, and there is "a lot of nature and the climate is good for the health", so there is no reason to leave. I found the climate part of that statement hilarious, but her making that statement showed me just how easy it is to control people and make them believe what you want. When people hear the same message over and over, eventually they can't resist its influence. 

The lengthy process at the boarder crossing exiting Belarus served as a final reminder of the highly bureaucratic system we were leaving behind. 

On the drive we were also able to make two short stops to admire some beautiful castles.... 

Rachel Aferzon in front of Bolshevik Palace.

Palace inner courtyard. 

Can me and Luka. Can you see the ghost? :)

Mir Castle 

Day 2: Visit to Khatyn Memorial

On the second day we visited Khatyn Memorial. All I can say is that I was extremely moved, even to tears at one point. The story and pictures speak for themselves.

The memorial is located on the site where the village of Khatyn once stood before the entire village was massacred. In 1943 there were 26 houses and 156 villagers. One day a Nazi battalion stormed the village, forced everyone into the barn and then burnt it to the ground. Those who managed to escape the burning building were shot. The Nazis then looted and burnt down the rest of the homes in the village. Only one adult survived.

 The "Unbowed Man".
This sculpture shows Khatyn's only survivor holding his dead son in him arms. 

This memorial serves not only as a reminder of the tragedy of Khatyn, but also as a symbol for the other villages in Belarus that were attacked and all of the deaths that occurred during this period. It remembers not only the Jews that were killed, but also the Belarusian citizens. All in all, over 2,000,000 people were killed in Belarus during the Nazi occupation; about a third of the Belarusian population at the time. 

Red for the blood that was shed. Black for the death and the ashes. 

When we examine transition, it is important to think not only about where we are going, but the past we are coming from. We must not forget the past but kept it in our memories so that we do not repeat it and so that it can be learned from. Injuries of the past must be remembered because they can motivate hope for a better future.  

The everlasting flame. Their memory will never die. 

Day 1: Goodbye Freedom, Welcome to Minsk

Minsk is unlike any city I have visited before. I had many thoughts and expectations about what it would be like before we left; some of those thoughts were proven true, while others were proved to be exactly the opposite. The people, for instance met my expectations. People on the street just pass by each other without acknowledgment. Smiling at a stranger, even from a shop owner to a customer is an exceptional event. I knew that was to be expected but experiencing it was something completely new. I had never been somewhere before where I felt that I was not necessarily a welcome traveler. 

What I definitely had not anticipated was the size and feel of the city. All of the buildings put up during the Soviet times were enormous and the streets were very wide. The effect this has is to make a person feel very small. I had expected Minsk to look more similar to other European cities, but it wasn't so, it felt almost like a large US city but with significantly less inhabitants. However, I was also surprised by the pedestrian friendliness of the city planning. The sidewalks were wide, the metro and the bus systems seemed very efficient as well. However, it reminded me that this city was built for functionality with streets wide enough for tanks and military vehicles, and to make sure it would be easy to facilitate the movement of many people from point A to point B. 

Pictures from Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus. 

Notice the size of the people...this building, the Parliamentary Palace and the statue of Lenin are quite impressive. Technically, you are not even allowed to take a picture of the Parliament unless Lenin is in it.

Red Church of Simon and Helen is in the background. The glass dome in the foreground is actually part of the ceiling of an underground shopping center.