Exhibition about Western Belarus closed in Zaslauye

The official reason is technical problems.

The exhibition of a private collection of historian Ihar Melnikau “Western Belarusian Atlantis. The history of Western Belarus in the interwar period in documents, photographs and art objects” was unofficially opened on September 12 in the Historic and Cultural Museum in Zaslauye.

The authorities tried to hinder its opening, but customers finally attended the exhibition. An ideological officer of the Minsk region forbade to hold it two hours before the opening. According to him, electoral equipment on the first floor was out of order. But the wiring was replaced in July and August. Ruslan Trukhan, the head of the department for ideology and culture at the Minsk regional executive committee, said last week that the exhibition “does not fit the Soviet concept, downgrades the role of the Soviet Union by emphasising the role of the Belarusians in the September campaign of 1939, so the exhibition seems to be undesirable,” Radio Svaboda reports.

Ihar Melnikau has about 300 items and documents in his collection. Half of them are original, and the rest are copies. The exhibition was to show the role of people born in Western Belarus in the September campaign of 1939, when Poland was fighting against the Nazi troops.

“My collection includes authentic original photographs of western Belarusians of the interwar period, a large number of documents, passports and maps as well as military uniform of Belarusian regiments that took part in battles against the Nazi troops during the September campaign. The samples of the uniform are copies, but such items have not been displayed in Belarus before. I also have items having relation to September 17, 1939, when Western Belarus joined the USSR,” says history PhD holder Ihar Melnikau, who has spent many years collecting rare items.