When in alliance with East Slavic neighbors Belarusian lands made progress, while in the arms of the West - declined, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the patriotic forum "This is OUR History!" to mark the Day of People's Unity in Minsk on 17 September, BelTA has learned.
"We will remember (we can't do without it!) and remind everyone that when in alliance with the East Slavic neighbors the Belarusian lands made progress (Kievan Rus, the Russian Empire, the USSR), while in the arms of the West (more than once we were there) we declined, we degraded as a nation. We were robbed, destroyed as an ethnic group both in the time of Rzeczpospolita and during the period of 20-year Polish rule of our western lands. The lands that today's Polish elites call as their "Kresy Wschodnie"(Eastern Borderlands). You see, they do not view us as Belarusians, just "some kresy". When you think about and recall that some members of Belarusian opposition are self exiled there... Well, what kind of Belarusians are they? What kind of independence are they for? They're for the kresy. I want us to be Belarusians. I want our children to be Belarusians. We will be Belarusians only on our own land," the President stressed.
"Just having received back their state after more than 100-year break literally from the hands of Lenin's Sovnarkom , the Polish authorities immediately laid claim to the Belarusian territories. From the position of today, we see the inevitability of this geopolitical catastrophe in our history," the head of state said.
As time later showed, the people had the will to resist the aggressor, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. But there was no unity in the ruling elites that stood at the origins of the Belarusian national state at the beginning of the 20th century.
"Our land, devastated by the German occupation (at the beginning of the century, not in the middle), was then torn apart by the internal political strife. In 2020, they wanted to sow chaos here again. History repeats itself. Some local nationalists from among the supporters of the BPR dreamed of seizing power at any cost. That was the case in 2020. Those are their heirs. They thought only about power: how to grab it, tear and divide the country among themselves. At the beginning of the century, they were ready to do it under the boot of the Kaiser, under the boot of the Germans. In the middle of the last century, this happened again. Others dreamt of a world revolution: it was not enough for them to have the revolution in this territory, they dreamt of spreading it worldwide. In both cases, the interests of our people were either denied in principle or pushed aside as an "untimely" issue. Our interests were ignored. Why? Because we were not masters of our land. We were not sovereign. We had nothing: there was no state, no power and no land. Therefore, the map of the republic was redrawn in any way possible and by anyone. The worst thing was that it was done without the participation of the Belarusians themselves," the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that the Byelorussian Socialist Soviet Republic in 1921, after the conclusion of the Riga Peace Treaty, consisted of six districts of the former Minsk Province on the area of just over 52,000 square kilometers. The population of the country then was about one and a half million people. "The treaty was not peaceful for Western Belarusians. The price of territorial losses was the broken fate of millions of Belarusians. Still alive are those whose keep memories of the painful 18 years of life on different sides of the border, which passed not only through villages and cities but also through people's hearts. Borders that divided a single people," the president said.
According to him, back then, "during the Polish time" Belarusians devoted to their traditions, culture, faith and language had nothing but bitter "orphan's" bread, slave labor and destroyed families.
"They rose up to fight for themselves. They stood up to defend their national culture, language, and human dignity, launching a large-scale partisan movement and paying (even then, before the Great Patriotic War) with their lives for freedom. Historians have counted several hundred large and small uprisings of Belarusians and Ukrainians over the 20-year Polish interwar period: from the First World War to the Great Patriotic War. We remember the cruelty with which the Skidel Uprising was suppressed, when Polish gendarmes massacred everyone, sparing no one: old people, women or children. We remember the savage torture of the prisoners of the Bereza-Kartuska concentration camp. We remember the heroes who became symbols of popular resistance in Western Belarus: Sergei Pritytsky, Vera Khoruzhaya, Ded Talash, Kirill Orlovsky, Stanislav Vaupshasov and other our countrymen," the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the strength and greatness of the unconquered Belarusian spirit is reflected in the works of Maksim Tank, Valentin Tavlai, Maksim Sevruk, Grigory Shirma and many others. "We see, we feel and remember," he added.
Answer:
Dear Shivendu Paul and Metali Listeners' Club,
dthank you for your comment! We'll send you some of our souvenirs ASAP.
Stay tuned and 73,
RBI
Hallo Radio Belarus,
ja der Dieter Leupold ist jetzt auch hier im Gästebuch vertreten... Super, bald sind wir alle zusammen hier im "Belarus Hörerclub", Dieter könnte 1.Vorsitzender werden und Jana und Elena Ehrernmitglieder, Helmut Matt Schriftführer, Alfred Albrecht Beisitzer und ich mache Hausmeister:-) Lutz Winkler wie fit bist Du bereits wieder, für Dich finden wir auch eine nette Aufgabe:-) Beste Grüße und ein schönes Wochenende.
Dietmar
Answer:
Lieber Dietmar,
das stimmt, für alle finden wir im Hörerklub eine Aufgabe!:)
Liebe Grüße und einen guten Start in die Woche!
I recently learned my surname is not Polish, but Belarusian. I heard you on shortwave in the past and am so happy to listen online in English. We hear nothing about Belarus here in the US so I am so glad to learn about your country. Keep on broadcasting in English. I also joined the Hoererklub on Facebook as I can understand German. If you have information or a station pennant, I will very much appreciate it.
Sheryl Paszkiewicz, 1015 Green St, Manitowoc WI 54220 USA
Answer:
Dear Sheryl, thank you very much for listening to us! We'll send you some of our souvenirs as soon as we can. By the way, if you're interested, you can participate in our "The Old Country's Loving Call" project and send a greeting to Belarus. You can find more detailed information at http://www.radiobelarus.by/en/content/hukaje_eng
Also, in case you like sports, here's the link to an international competition of ours "My Greetings to 2nd European Games" http://www.radiobelarus.by/en/content/games_eng
73 from the entire staff of RBI! Прывiтанне з Малой Радiзмы :)
Hello from Birmingham United Kingdom!
My name is Michael.
I really enjoyed listening to your program on the Hotbird satellite 13e. I very much love listening to your news and current affairs.
Ask you to send me a small gifts. I hope you guys are all good.
Lots of love from UK
Especially enjoying learning about Belarus. History and culture
Michael Rogers
Flat 2 463 City road Birmingham
B17 8LG
United Kingdom
Answer:
Michael,
thank you very much for listening to us! We're glad that you enjoy our programs. We'll send you some of our souvenirs as soon as we can. Best regards and stay tuned!
Hello. I am a new listener to your English service. I listen on the Radio 1 News app. I enjoyed listening to the news. Do you have any information on shortwave broadcasts you can send me?
Thank you,
Joe Cosimo
23 Ivy Ln, Dupont, PA 18641 U.S.A.
Answer:
Dear Joe, thank you for listening to Radio Belarus International! We're glad that you enjoyed our news. RBI broadcasts on shortwave only in German on 6005 and 3985 kHz. News and programs in English are available via our website and satellites. We'll also send you a postcard and a small souvenir as soon as we can. 73!
Hello,
My name is Younes Lazazi, I am from Algeria.
I am very happy that radio Belarus has started broadcasting in Arabic.
I would like to receive stickers and printed matter of the station and the Arabic and french services if possible.
My address:
Monsieur Younes Lazazi 14 rue Maza Boualem El-Harrach 16009 Alger Algérie
Thank you.
Answer:
Dear Younes Lazazi,
we're happy that you like our boradcasts. We'll send you some of our printed materials via mail in the nearest future. 73!
Dear English Service Radio Belarus,
Greetings to all staff and listeners of English Service of Radio Belarus. We listen your webcast program. Your program quality is very nice. Your website is colorful & documented. We liked your programs, News, and Current Affairs Program. We are interested about Culture, life style of Belarusian people, historical places, Tourist attraction and destination of Belarus.
Please send some program schedule, sticker, view card, Promotional items of Radio Belarus for our club members and students.
We are waiting for your reply.
With best wishes,
SHIVENDU PAUL
President
Metali Listeners' Club
India
Answer:
Dear Shivendu Paul,
thank you very much for listening to us! Your club is among our most dedicated listeners. We will send you some of our promotional products as soon as possible. 73!
Hello!
Did the arabic programmes start? I don't see them on your Internetcast schedule page. Thanks!
Answer:
Hello! The Arabic programmes have been on air since October, every Monday. You can see the schedule and listen to them on our Arabic page http://radiobelarus.by/ar
FM transmitters and frequencies:
Rakitnitsa - 106.2 MHz
Hrodna - 95.7 MHz
Svislach - 104.4 MHz
Heraniony - 99.9 MHz
Braslau - 106.6 MHz
Miadzel - 102.0 MHz
Satellite broadcasting:
see satellite parameters here
