Authorities renounce Kurapaty

The Ministry of Culture thinks the memorial signs, installed by the society in Kurapaty can’t be identified as historical and cultural values.

It is said in the ministry’s response to the letter of the society concerning the recent acts of vandalism in the memorial area Kurapaty, which was included in the list of historical and cultural object of the Republic of Belarus as the grave site of victims of the political repressions of 1930-1940.

The letter, signed by deputy minister of culture Uladzimer Grydziushka, refers to the article 20.2 of the law “On protection of historical and cultural objects.” According to it, memorial signs, installed by the community in the memorial area, can’t be included into the State List of Historical and Cultural Objects.

Anton Astapovich, head of the Belarusian Voluntary Society of Protection the Monuments of History and Culture (BVSPMHC) said in the interview to BelaPAN, that according to the position of the ministry of culture, all memorial signs, installed by the publicity in Kurapaty, including the Cross of Sorrow and Clinton’s Bench, mustn’t be protected by the state. “So, one can do whatever he or she wills, on the protected by the state territory, as there are no laws that could prevent it,” A. Astapovich stressed.

He thinks, the officials should be ruled not only by laws, but also by moral norms. “Because the situation, when the national memorial in Kurapaty can be damaged with impunity, is abnormal,” A. Astapovich noted.

It should be remembered that after the recent acts of vandalism in Kurapaty the public organising committee on memorialisation the victims of Stalin’s repressions sent an open letter to the President’s Administration, General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB, the Ministry of Culture and the Minsk City Executive Committee. The document, signed by co-head of the organising committee of BVSPMHC and public organisation “Christian Community Kurapaty”, contains a number of requirements to the authorities. Among them – protection of Kurapaty, investigation of the acts of vandalism in the memorial area with bringing the guilty to criminal responsibility, and including the installed by the publicity memorial signs in Kurapaty, into the State List of Historical and Cultural Objects.