Lukashenko was proposed to create a museum and memorial of ethnocide in Belarus
September 18, 2025
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was proposed at a meeting with the ideological asset, historical and expert community, dedicated to the Day of National Unity, to create a museum and memorial of Polish ethnocide policy in the country, a BELTA correspondent reports.
During the event, one of the participants addressed the head of state with two initiatives concerning the ethnocide of the Belarusian people. Igor Marzalyuk, Chairman of the Standing Commission on Education, Culture and Science of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, proposed to create a national-scale museum on the site of the Bereza Kartuzskaya concentration camp about the Polish occupation and the national liberation movement. He also expressed the idea of creating a memorial, similar to Khatyn, on the site of one of the settlements or villages destroyed in western Belarus under the guise of strengthening "Polishness." According to the deputy, this would be a visible testament to the sacrifices made by Belarusians for the sake of national unity. "This is precisely what evokes empathy at the level of a child, an adult. Moreover, there are many such family stories among Western Belarusians who defended the BSSR, their country," he said.
Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that the decision on both proposals must be balanced, verified, and timely. The President, according to him, has been thinking about this recently, watching thematic segments on television, and admits that a museum may appear in Bereza Kartuzskaya, but only on the condition that there is absolute certainty and a pressing need for its creation. "So that we don't inflame the situation with this. This is very important," the head of state stressed.
In this regard, Vadim Gigin, Chairman of the Board of the RGOO "Belarusian Society 'Knowledge'," joined the dialogue. He mentioned a very poignant rally that recently took place at the site of the Bereza Kartuzskaya concentration camp and said that, in his opinion, a public demand for the creation of a museum there has been formed.
"Vadim, perhaps we should stop here for now (with holding such commemorative events as rallies. - BELTA's note). I don't even want to give any reason (to our Western neighbors for escalating the situation. - BELTA's note), the President said. "If we now, like them, start to escalate the situation, we will only accelerate the process."
The Head of State believes that both initiatives require additional reflection and the availability of exhaustive documentary materials. "We need to think," said Alexander Lukashenko. Moreover, the history of the Polish ethnocide issue has not yet been thoroughly studied, and perhaps not all facts have been established. As, for example, in the case of Khatyn, when over time it turned out that there were many more burned villages than immortalized in the memorial complex itself.