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An open online meeting "In Unity is Our Strength and Future" was held at the Vitebsk Region Media Center. Participants discussed the historical and socio-political significance of the Day of National Unity.
Two years ago, a new state holiday appeared in the country. It was designed not only to recall the events of 1939 and the importance of reuniting the Western Belarusian lands with the BSSR, but also to help unite contemporary society, protecting it from external division. Therefore, September 17 has undoubtedly ceased to be just a date from a history textbook. It is also a reminder of today's realities, of a new level of our statehood.
Anatoly Gutsulyak, Deputy Head of the Main Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs of the Regional Executive Committee – Head of the Department for Public Relations and Interaction with the Media, Igor Marzalyuk, Deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Irina Nikolaeva, Director of the Vitebsk Branch of the International University "MITSO", Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, and Rostislav Timofeev, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of History and Cultural Heritage of VSU named after P. Masherov, lecturer of the regional organizational structure of the Belarusian Society "Znanie", shared their views on the Day of National Unity and the events of the 1920s-1930s at the meeting in the Media Center.
Heads of structural divisions of the Regional Executive Committee, representatives of city and district executive committees and labor collectives, and students of higher education institutions of the Vitebsk region were present in the hall and 100 online studios.
Independent, sovereign, and happy – these are the adjectives associated with the Day of National Unity for Anatoly Gutsulyak.
He noted:
— This is the youngest state holiday, but it is truly important and in no way inferior to other significant dates, such as Victory Day, Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus.
And Igor Marzalyuk emphasized that this day is a colossal lesson and a colossal memory. The deputy and well-known historian thoroughly analyzed the inconsistency of the theses, in which Western Belarus is depicted as prosperous, and the reunification of our country's territory in 1939 is attempted to be portrayed as aggressive actions. In reality, after the Treaty of Riga, most Belarusian national figures opposed the Polish occupation. Guerrilla anti-Polish struggle was waged in the western territories. And the policy pursued by the authorities – the destruction of Belarusian political parties, the closure of schools where one could study in the national language – did not at all contribute to positive sentiments among the local population. There was a targeted destruction of culture, language, national identity – in essence, an attempt was made to completely assimilate, erase the ethnos. So the march of the Red Army into Western Belarus was truly liberating, no matter how some try to prove otherwise.