We must speak out, breaking years of silence, about the heavy footprint left by Polish authorities on Belarusian lands detached from the Soviet Republic. This was stated by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on September 17 at a meeting with the ideological asset, historical and expert community, dedicated to the Day of National Unity, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

"Whatever is happening today (in the relations between Belarus and Poland. - BELTA's note), we do not consider it a mistake that for many years we tried to live in peace with our neighbors, without throwing unpleasant historical facts in their faces (well, what is there to regret about it)," the head of state said. - While we were thinking about friendship, they were making us subhumans and outright enemies. In culture, in science, and in the media. As a result, (they. - BELTA's note) developed the policy we have today."

Therefore, according to the President, more should be said about the backstory of the Red Army's campaign. "We must speak out, breaking years of silence, about the heavy footprint left by Polish authorities on lands detached from our Soviet Republic," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko. - Our people must know that Belarusians were robbed while ethnic Poland prospered and flourished, that our resources were exported, and the peasant, who worked himself to death for pennies, lived in poverty and under the fear of the whip. And this whip fell on everyone who tried to fight for their faith, language, and culture."

It is also necessary to talk about the fact that residents of Western Belarus were deprived of the right to study in their native language, Orthodox churches were closed, and national elites and priests were persecuted, Alexander Lukashenko is convinced.

"We must all remember that Polish prisons were filled with Belarusian patriots, that the nation was being destroyed both spiritually and physically – in the most brutal way," the Head of State noted.

In any case, these topics are already being discussed in modern Belarus. And there would be no need to gather for a meeting at the Presidential level to discuss such issues again. "We have gathered to find something new – a new direction that, as young people say, would resonate, would engage people," the Belarusian leader noted.

It is especially important, according to him, to tell how heroically Western Belarusians resisted, united in the struggle, and strove for reunification with the eastern part. "This is truly a historical example of national unity," the President stated.

However, the question remains how effectively these facts are communicated in the country, starting from school textbooks to museum exhibits and excursions to memorable places, the Head of State outlined the problematic aspect. Alexander Lukashenko placed a special emphasis on textbooks: "If we manage to convince, to instill in children's minds from school age what we want and what we are talking about, then we have succeeded. It will be difficult to dissuade these children from the opposite later."

The President emphasized that the accents should be analyzed for all periods of Belarusian history: which dates and events are important, who are the heroes, who are the enemies.

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