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Krzysztof Zanussi On Kurapaty: Destiny Of System Built On Lies Is Obvious

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Krzysztof Zanussi On Kurapaty: Destiny Of System Built On Lies Is Obvious
KRZYSZTOF ZANUSSI
PHOTO: RADIO LIBERTY

The famous Polish director supported the Kurapaty defenders.

Polish director, scriptwriter, philosopher and writer Krzysztof Zanussi spoke to Radio Liberty about the restaurant near the place of mass executions of victims of Stalinist repressions in Kurapaty.

- Mr.Zanussi, how do you assess the very existence of a restaurant in close proximity to the place of execution of dozens of hundreds of people? Is it worth protesting against it?

- This is a very important issue. The development of mankind began from the moment when people started burying the dead. Animals do not bury the dead.

The primitive man began to be a human after he began to feel the connection with what had passed. The attitude to this place is an indicator of the culture of the country and the people. I am very sad that in the center of Europe the understanding of this important issue is so poor.

I believe that a simple person in Belarus understands that one can not stamp on the cemetery and build a restaurant there. This is an unfit act. I'm very annoyed that there were people who want to earn money in such a place. This is a proof of a low level of culture and very badly shows Belarus in the world. I think that the Belarusian authorities will reflect on whether it was a good idea to give consent to such an institution.

- Can you imagine something like this happening in Poland? What would be the reaction of the society?

- In Poland, this is impossible to imagine. Poles are very attached to places of memory. Barbarism happens everywhere, but the reaction to it is important. I believe that there will be a decent reaction in Belarus.

- The officials and the employees of the restaurant say, yes, there is Kurapaty nearby, but there are many places where people are buried, life goes nevertheless, it’s necessary to think about the living.

- The living people who return to the time of barbarism seem a bad idea. Thinking about the living, they degrade and entail the Belarusian society. It's very annoying, because there are enough places for live people to build a restaurant in Belarus. I have been to Kurapaty more than once. The freeway has already been glued to it. It's just a lack of sensitivity in important matters.

- You say you have been to Kurapaty. What did you feel in such place? On the one hand, this is a place of great tragedy, on the other – just a headache of the authorities which they cannot get rid of for years.

- I felt a great sorrow there, as in many other forgotten places of human patience. All this happened so recently. And this short memory is a bad sign about the inhabitants of Minsk. I want to believe that many still have a feeling that the tranquility of this place is broken. This barbarism is a bad sign for the future. It is a pity that many do not understand this. Disrespect for the dead will respond in the future. Children and grandchildren will later be embarrassed.

- In Belarus, they say : it doesn’t hurt for the dead. However, it doesn’t seem to hurt the living as well, because only a bunch of people come to defend Kurapaty.

- It may not hurt the dead. But humanity began from culture. And we are watching Kurapaty from the position of culture. And it hurts to look at it. Belarus agreed to barbarism. There should be even no discussion on such matters, since these are obvious things.

- You said in one interview that “it is only possible to build propaganda on lies, and it will pass soon, because only the truth, beauty and the good are real.” Why are they fighting with Kurapaty for 80 years and it doesn’t seem to end soon?

- There is only one truth: a system built on lies can live, but its fate is obvious. One such system has already disintegrated 30 years ago. And this confirms that nothing exists for a long time. This will happen again in the case of Kurapaty.

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