![[ Photograph: Memorial Bench from USA at Kurapaty, detail -- Remembrance Day (Dzen' Dzyady), 1997 ]](images/bench-detail.jpg)
(Photograph taken on Remembrance Day (Dzen' Dzyady), 1997.)
![[ Photograph: US President Clinton at the BNAS -- January 15, 1994 ]](images/clinton--1994-01-s.jpg)
(Photograph taken on Remembrance Day (Dzen' Dzyady), 1997.)
|
Photo Credit: President W J Clinton's visit to the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences, January 15, 1994. Souvenir postcard of the visit by Technalohija Publishing House (1996) |
During the US President's (William Jefferson Clinton) visit to Belarus in January, 1994, he presented a memorial bench to the people of Belarus from the people of the USA. The dark marble bench was engraved in both Belarusian and English. The memorial bench was placed at Kurapaty, the site of mass murders by the Soviet government (with the victims totaling at least in the tens of thousands--but probably in the hundreds of thousands), under Stalin, during the period immediately before WWII. In the waning days of the USSR (1989), the Belarusian government stated (and placed a plaque at Kurapaty to that effect) that it would establish a memorial at Kurapaty, but this has not yet been done (as of February, 2007).
The current regime ruling Belarus is relentless in its attempts to propagandize history for its own purposes. Among their activities, their current systematic attempt to revise the story of Kurapaty (that is, blame it on the Nazi's or persons unknown), to attempt to absolve their heroes Stalin and Derzhinsky and themselves of guilt, is one of the strongest examples of the desecration of the graves of the victims.
The current repeated -- 11 times thus far! -- "vandal" attacks by persons unknown, while not explicitly claimed by the ruling regime, is suspiciously absent of police response in a country where people are quickly arrested and jailed for trivial acts. The Belarusian KGB is always present at Kurapaty to photograph and film the participants in memorial ceremonies honoring the murdered, but seem to be unavailable when crimes take place. That said, nothing of significant has been done to apprehend any of the culprits, nor to protect the memorial complex, including the memorial bench donated by the US people. . . .
- Kurapaty -- Site of Soviet Massacre of 200,000 Belarusians, 1937-1941. Today, many people in Belarus still either don't believe this happened or else blame it on the Nazis. Keep this in mind when considering Human Rights in Belarus today. (Web site created by Aliaksiej Sierka in 1996).
- Follow this link for information about the source book upon which the Kurapaty Web page is based.
- Go to the Human Rights section of this Web page.
According to historian Ihar Kuznetsow who complained to the police about the attack, the investigator once again questioned him and other people who discovered the damage on January 30 when arriving at Kurapaty to commemorate victims of the Stalin terror, told BelaPAN.
He said that he had urged the officer to look for the offenders among ultra-nationalist activists, not homeless people or criminals. "I once again draw his attention to the fact that the attack was not an accidental but malicious act," the historian said.
When refusing to open a criminal case, the police cited failure to detect any elements of crime. They also said that Clinton Bench had not been put on any official register of memorials or property and that is why it was impossible to estimate how much the memorial and the damage were worth.
Unidentified people smashed the bench and took away a piece of it in what was said to be the 11th vandal attack on Clinton Bench that was donated by President Bill Clinton on behalf of the people of the United States during his visit to Belarus in 1994.
The previous one occurred two months ago. The vandals then threw the bench's granite slab off the concrete supports and scattered flowers and candles placed on the monument."
“It is impossible to identify either a person who dismantled the bench or the witnesses of the accident”, the letter reports. It is also stressed, that « materially the bench is not put on the balance of any entity thus making it impossible to determine either its cost or the amount of the damage incurred to the memorial”.
According to I.Kuznyatsou, the Baraulyansky department’s answer makes any further appealing of the public to the militia staff for providing security of the suburb senseless. “Thus, the vandals have got the permission to commit with impunity all possible crimes and law disorders in Kurapaty”, considers the researcher. Meanwhile, he mentioned that several years ago the authorities had denied the offer of the public’ representatives to organize guarding of Kurapaty.
It is to be mentioned, that dismantling of the memorial which was presented “To the Belarusian people from the US people as a sign of commemoration “ by president of the USA Bill Clinton in 1994 was found out by participants of the symbolic action in commemoration of the victims of Stalin’s repressions 30 January. A part of the bench disappeared. Since the moment of its erection the memorial has been damaged several times.
The vandals smashed the bench and took away a piece of it. The damage was discovered on Tuesday when some 20 people arrived at Kurapaty to commemorate victims of the Stalin terror. "The Embassy regrets that the memorial bench, a gift of the US people to the Belarusian people, was damaged once again. But what is more regretful is that this vandal attack offends the memory of thousands of Stalin terror victims in Kurapaty. The Embassy is determined to continue paying tribute to those killed in Kurapaty," he said. Mr. Salamakha noted that the Embassy considered ways of repairing the memorial. This was the 11th vandal attack on the monument that was donated by President Bill Clinton on behalf of the people of the United States during his visit to Belarus in 1994. The previous one occurred two months ago. The vandals then threw the bench's granite slab off the concrete supports and scattered flowers and candles placed on the monument. " (Note: Emphasis of start of first sentence of this paragraph is by Web editor.)
|
![[ Photograph: US Embassy Official visiting vandalized bench at Kurapaty, January, 2007 ]](images/vandaled-bench.jpg)
US Embassy official visiting vandalized bench at Kurapaty, January, 2007. (Photo credit: Radio Svaboda) |
The Youth Front underlines that nobody is allowed to insult memory of thousands of Belarusians shot by the Communist authorities in 1937-38.
As we have informed, recently another act of vandalism took place in Kurapaty. A memorial "To Belarusians from the American people" presented by US President Bill Clinton was damaged. " (Web Editor's Note: US President William Jefferson Clinton presented the memorial bench to the Belarusian people from the people of the USA during his visit to Belarus in January, 1994.)
A representative of the US Embassy in Belarus, Second Secretary Steven Gillen visited Kurapaty. 'We consider this incident a great tragedy. It was a little bench, but it was an important symbol of friendship between the Belarusian and the American nations. Itҳ a tragedy,' he said.
A memorial rally has been held in the memorial site today. Candles were lit in the places of mass executions. At the same time such actions were taking place in Russia. They are marking the 70th anniversary of the year 1937.
In front of the memorial site special services officers in mufti were examining documents of every person taking part in the rally." (Web Editor's Note: US President William Jefferson Clinton presented the memorial bench to the Belarusian people from the people of the USA during his visit to Belarus in January, 1994.)
In an interview to BelaPAN, Ihar Kuznyatsou, a well-known researcher of the Stalin-era repressions, historian, noted that another desecration of the memorial sign is a result of law-enforcing agencies failure to take measures for protection of the place, which in 1993 was included into the State List of Historical and Cultural Valuables of Belarus as a place of mass executions of political repressions victims in 1930-40ies. If the police was unable to detect and arrest any of criminals who desecrated the memorial complex, they must organize a round-the-clock vigil in Kurapaty, the historian believes.
As we have informed, in summer 2001 the bench was broken by unknown vandals. After that it was restored and erected again on Jaunary 15, 2002 by American Ambassador to Belarus Michael Kozak. A sculptor Ales Shaternik, who restored the memorial sign, places a metal wreath in the pace of a crack in the granite platform, which symbolizes repentance of the Belarusians who hadn't been able to protect the monument from defilement.
Later Clinton's bench was attacked many times, and in the end of 2005 as well. Then vandals toppled the bench and daubed it with red paint. On December 6, 2005 after protests of the civil society Minsk police department initiated a criminal probe on vandalism. However, in the end of this year the case was suspended. Persons responsible for the crime haven't been found. Another vandalistic attack happened this spring. The metal garland on the monument was stolen." (Web Editor's Note: US President William Jefferson Clinton presented the memorial bench to the Belarusian people from the people of the USA during his visit to Belarus in January, 1994.)