In May 2012 I made a trip by road to see a friend who lives
in Minsk. It had been some sixteen years since I last saw Valentina when she
had been an interpreter for a group of Belarusian children who had been
affected by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Since that trip we had written e
mails regularly and eagerly suggested I stay in her apartment in Minsk during my
trip to her country. It was a busy time during my stay in Minsk, but very very
enjoyable. I saw things and met people ordinary tourists would never see.
I've written
a little before about the trip to Khatyn but this one is a day trip to a
different place. We set off from Minsk
on a beautiful May day, the 9th May to be exact. Valentina had suggested this
particular day as it was the annual Victory Day parade, and the city centre
would be crammed full of people, so a good idea to get out into the country. All
over Russia and some of its former satellites the day is revered in the memory
of those who served and died in the armed forces during the Great Patriotic War
(1941-1945).
Valentina and myself were in the front seats
of the car, and two young students of hers and her son were squashed together in
the back seat. As time went on it became obvious that 15 year old Yura in the
middle of the back seat was in imminent danger of being crushed by the two
female students he was wedged between. Ah well, it's all part of growing up! A
memory he will look back on in years to come with affection.
The place we
went to is called Narach and lies in what is called the Lake District, due to
the large number of lakes and forests. It is a beautiful place. On the way
there we stopped to take obligatory photographs of places of interest, in
particular a church on a hill. Don't know what it is called or exactly where it
is, but I think you will agree, it is stunning. Here's a photo of the church
together with the two students, Katya and Svetlana; oh yes, and Yura.
The first stop
in the small town, which lies by the side of a large lake, was the town's Folk
Museum. Considering the size of the place, which was not very big, it contained
an amazing variety of ancient and fairly recent artefacts sound in the
surrounding areas. Several things which
struck me as we wandered around the place was the number and variety of things
relating to the partisans from the area who fought in the war. As I have had an
interest in the history of the war and the USSR in general, I was particularly
interested in what the museum had on display.
At one point
I whispered to Valentina that the museum seemed particularly quiet for a public
holiday. She equally quietly whispered back that it was normally closed, but
she had persuaded the museum director and her staff to open the place up for me
as I would not have the opportunity to visit again. I was astounded, and not a
little impressed. In fact I was overwhelmed to think that the director and two
of her staff had come in to open up the museum on thief holiday simply to give
me a tour around the place. I started to take more notice.
As we walked
around Valentina and I had a whispered conversation about how she had managed
to persuade her to open up the place. I blushed when she told me the reason she
had given. I won't repeat it here. I am too embarrassed.
On leaving
the quiet interior of the museum and walking out into the bright sunlight once
more I made profuse thanks to the kind lady and her staff and started to walk
away back to the car. Valentina called me back. Apparently the director had
also arranged for us to meet a local history guide who was going to now take us
into the forest nearby. The man duly arrived and after introductions had been
made he drove off in his car with us behind, for a twenty minute into a large
fir forest close to the town. We bumped along unmade forest tracks until we
came to a clearing with a red monument in the middle. The fir trees soared high above and around us.
Sunlight streamed through the tree tops and lit glades and hollows all about.
|
Memorial to the Partisans |
I noticed
two dug outs built down into the side of gentle low lying areas of the open
spaces. They were constructed of wooden logs and roofed with turf. It was
explained to me via Valentina that this area was not open to tourists or the
public, but again, at the request of the director of the museum, we had been
permitted to make this visit.
The area,
during the Great Patriotic War, had been a small encampment constructed by the
partisans who then went out into the countryside to attack the invading Nazis.
The monument was to the memory of those who had died. Inside the grim little
huts were reconstructions of the living quarters, on the walls copies of news
bulletins and instructions published in the war.
Outside the hut was a grey slate plaque mounted on wood.
It reads,
The dugout was the headquarters
of Vilejka Regional Committee of the Leninist Communist Union of Youth of
Belarus (OK LKSMB)
Secretary: Pyotr Mironovich Masherov)
(September 1943 to July 1944)
All in all,
it was a very memorable place to visit, and as it was on the national holiday
to commemorate the war dead, I felt particularly privileged.