Professor: Belarusians are tolerant, but will never accept evil and violence against their country

As noted by a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences and a doctor of historical sciences, Professor Igor Marzalyuk, Belarusians have always been and remain tolerant people, who respect other nations, their religion and culture

At the same time, Belarusians will never tolerate evil and violence against their country.

“The idea of the Belarusian world is very metaphorically represented in a historical layout of any city in the country: i.e. a town hall may neighbour an Orthodox cathedral, a Catholic or a Lutheran church, a synagogue or a mosque. Belarusians can make fun of each other, but they never turn to religious discord: our nation has never humiliated or robbed others. During the years of the most terrible and anti-human war in the history of mankind, unleashed by fascist Germany, there were no people around Belarus among our compatriots who would initiate a Jewish pogrom or support the extermination of people. The only exceptions were those 20,000 loathsome persons who served the Nazis. Meanwhile, some of our closest neighbours, unfortunately, allowed themselves to do this: i.e. on June 24th, 1941, Jewish pogroms began in Kaunas, and Lithuanian nationalists began driving people into synagogues and burn them alive… This is wild and unnatural for Belarusians. We are a cultural European nation," the historian stressed.

Mr. Marzalyuk also commented on National Unity Day, saying that it is ‘a symbol of restoration of the historical justice and return of the lost integrity of the Belarusian nation’ for all those who consider themselves Belarusians. “Belarus was once deprived of its ancestral lands, identity and unity that had existed until 1921. On September 17th, 1939, an event of epochal significance happened, and it put an end to the disastrous consequences for Belarusians of the so-called Riga Peace Treaty signed on March 18th, 1921 between the RSFSR and Poland,” Mr. Marzalyuk explained.