Also see Vera Rich's poem, "On the Anniversary of the Slucak Uprising" (1958).
"Speaking to the gathering BPF leader Vintsuk Vyachorka rejected speculations that independence 'just fell on the Belarusians from the sky.' The bloody uprising shows that the struggle for independence has never been easy for the Belarusian people, Mr. Vyachorka said. He noted that the uprising had united various political forces in Belarus."
" 'We also should unite to free Belarus from the hated occupation regime in 2001,' Mr. Vyachorka said. Speakers also included Vladimir Lyakhovsky and Viktor Ostroga, researchers from the National Academy of Sciences. The speeches were followed by a concert."
"On November 26, about 1,000 members of the BPF, the Conservative Christian Party, and the United Civic Party amassed at a stadium in Slutsk for a rally on the occasion. After the rally, its participants laid wreaths at the building of the local museum of regional studies, the former building of the local Uezd Gentry Assembly. The building had housed the assembly of representatives of settlements in the Slutsk uezd that had proclaimed the uezd 'part of the Belarusian National Republic,' elected a Slutsk Belarusian Rada, which, as the Polish troops' retreated, started forming a Slutsk brigade to repulse the Red Army. The brigade consisted of two regiments and had some 10,000 rebels."
"From Slutsk, participants in several buses headed for the settlement of Krasnaya Sloboda, formerly Vyzna, where the bloodiest battle had taken place between the rebels and the Bolsheviks' 27th Omsk Division, a third of which were Chinese volunteers. They also visited the villages of Grozov and Semezhevo, also former battle scenes."
"The Slutsk uprising broke out on November 1, 1920. Appeals by the government of the Belarusian National Republic to the Western Powers and the United States for military aid met with no response. The Soviet government, faced with a mass revolt in Belarus, signed an armistice with Poland to free its hands for more effective suppression. The armistice allowed the Soviet government to transfer units from the Polish front and use them against the rebels. As a result, the uprising was suppressed by the end of December 1920." [Note: Web editor's emphasis]
Source: BelaPAN, No. 240; Monday, November 27, 2000; 10:10 p.m.
"After the rally, participants will go to the settlement of Krasnaya Sloboda, formerly Vyzna, where the bloodiest battle took place between the rebels and the Bolsheviks' 27th Omsk Division, a third of which were Chinese volunteers."
"On November 28, a rally on the occasion will take place at the BPF office in Mensk. An exhibition of archive documents and works by Belarusian artist Ales Pushkin will open at the BPF office on the same day."
"On December 1, a documentary about the uprising is to be shown in the Smena movie theater. The film was directed by Stanislav Gaiduk and Anatoly Gritskevich wrote the script. A discussion about the film will follow the showing."
"The Slucak uprising broke out on November 1, 1920. Appeals by the government of the Belarusian National Republic to the Western Powers and the United States for military aid met with no response. The Soviet government, faced with a mass revolt in Belarus, signed an armistice with Poland to free its hands for more effective suppression. The armistice allowed the Soviet government to transfer units from the Polish front and use them against the rebels. As a result, the uprising was suppressed by the end of December 1920." [Note: Web editor's emphasis]
Source: BelaPAN, No. 223; Thursday, November 23, 2000; 4:35 p.m.
"The cross was installed on a site where the anti-Bolshevik rebels once had their headquaters. About 60 youths in army-style uniforms marched along the streets of Krasnaya Sloboda under white-red-white flags. They were yelling "Long Live Belarus!" and giving away leaflets about the Slutsk revolt and today's political situation."
" 'Belarus faces a physical and spiritual Chernobyl,' says the leaflet. 'Knowledge of our heroic past will help us survive and prevail. Belarus is now ruled by people many of whom must be held responsible for their crimes in the past. Only through independence can Belarus take its rightful place among other nations.' "
"The event reportedly provoked resentment among some locals who took it as an anti-government demonstration and assailed the marchers with shouts of disapproval."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 113; Sunday, November 28, 1999; 3:20 p.m.
"Mr. Antsypovich has told BelaPAN that he has been accused of organizing an unsanctioned rally and march in Slutsk on November 29. On that day, over 120 representatives of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) made a tour of areas related to the 1920 Slutsk anti-Bolshevik armed uprising. They visited Slutsk, the settlement of Krasnaya Sloboda in the Soligorsk district and two villages in the Kopyl district, Semezhevo and Grozov."
"While in Slutsk, the tourists marched along the main street to the building of the local museum of regional studies, carrying white-red-white flags and singing songs devoted to fighters for national liberation. According to Mr. Antsypovich, the trip represented an excursion, which requires no permission. Such tours have annually been organized by the BPF since 1992. 'I think the authorities attach exclusively political significance to the Slutsk revolt, a historical event,' Mr. Antsypovich said. He added that the authorities' action was in violation of human rights. 'This example of masked political persecution illustrates the nature of the current regime, which attempts to intimidate working people in view of future mass [protest] actions,' Mr. Antsypovich said."
"According to Mr. Bankevich, the police officers just executed an order and that is why they do not care that people only honored the memory of the Slutsk rebels during that trip."
"The Slutsk uprising broke out on November 1, 1920. The building of today's museum of regional studies in Slutsk was host to the assembly of representatives of settlements in the Slutsk uezd that proclaimed the uezd a 'part of the Belarusan Democratic [National] Republic,' elected a Slutsk Belarusian Rada, which, in the conditions of the Polish troops' retreat, started forming a Slutsk brigade to repulse the Red Army. The brigade consisted of two regiments and was about 10,000 strong."
"Appeals by the government of the Belarusian National Republic to the Western Powers and the United States for military aid met with no response. The Soviet government, faced with a mass revolt in Belarus, signed an armistice with Poland to free its hands for more effective suppression. The armistice allowed the Soviet government to transfer units from the Polish front and use them against the rebels. As a result, the uprising was suppressed by the end of December 1920."
"According to Mr. Antsypovich, the remainders of the rebels' units crossed the border with Poland and were disarmed and interned by the Polish Army, and 'almost none of them was among the living by 1946.' The rebels who resided in Western Belarus were exterminated in 1939, and those who emigrated to Poland were executed or died in Stalinist prisons after World War II came to an end."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 20; Saturday, December 5, 1998; 4:10 p.m. Any emphasis in the preceding text is mine -- PK.
From the entry in the Historical Dictionary of Belarus (Zaprudnik, 1998; pp. 197):