A new tradition in the history of a sovereign country – the Day of National Unity. This year, Belarus celebrated this new state holiday for the third time. However, its roots go back to the first half of the 20th century when the country and the people were divided in half for almost two decades.
Although not under its current name, the holiday was solemnly celebrated in Belarus a year after the reunification – on September 17, 1940 – as the Day of Liberation of the Working People of Western Belarus from the oppression of the gentry. After the Great Patriotic War, the residents of Belarus did not forget the memorable date, let alone the suffering endured. However, new historical realities led to the holiday gradually fading away in order not to exacerbate the situation and Soviet-Polish relations. But the date of September 17, which was joyful for Belarusians, continued to live on in the names of streets, agricultural enterprises, and in people's memories.
The central event of the Day of National Unity was the patriotic forum "We are Belarusians!", which took place at the Minsk-Arena venue. Numerous delegations from all regions and Minsk arrived at the event. Among them were young people, athletes, representatives of public associations, political parties, and the media. The forum was also attended by heads of state bodies, international organisations, and heads of diplomatic missions.
The narrative was built around the story of modern Belarus – its traditions, achievements, and future. President Alexander Lukashenko addressed the audience at the celebration, speaking to his compatriots in a live broadcast:
Dear Compatriots!
Today is September 17 – the Day of National Unity. Our unity, the unity of the Belarusian people, symbolised by 1939 – the year the Belarusian lands were reunited within the borders of a single state.
Time itself, an era of global world redistribution, has returned this date to our calendar of state holidays.
The more we see modern states collapsing, peoples losing their homeland, homes, and traditions, the more closely we examine the history of our native land. A land that thousands of years ago met our ancient ancestors with a harsh climate, taught us to stick together to survive and become masters in our own home.
And we understand that, in essence, there are no new challenges. There are no unexpected turns in history. There are forgotten old lessons and threats. And there is protection – centuries of experience that have taught us to be together in both happy and difficult times.
For many centuries, Belarusians have been united: when they adopted Christianity; when they withstood the onslaught of the German Teutonic Order;
when they fought against Napoleon's French army; when they defended their faith, language, and culture; when, in a united surge with fraternal Soviet peoples, they laid the foundation of their national statehood, rose up to fight against fascist aggression, and revived the Soviet country from the ashes of the Great Patriotic War.
And when, on the ruins of the Soviet Union, they began to build a sovereign Belarus.
We, Belarusians, do not need to be told how important it is to live in peace and harmony, to be a united nation. Life has taught us.
And our compatriots, born under Polish occupation, can tell a lot. Those who know the danger of losing their Motherland and being separated from their families. They know what it means to live on their native land but be outcasts in the eyes of privileged fellow citizens for many decades.
They understand why on September 17th the republic celebrated the Day of Liberation of the working people of Western Belarus from Polish lords, from occupation, from oppression. No matter how the name changed, it objectively reflected the essence of this holiday.
Until recently, we hardly remembered that dramatic time – the period when our Belarus was torn in half! Everything was overshadowed by the global tragedy of the Great Patriotic War, World War II. This terrible human slaughter eclipsed everything.
It was not customary to recall this time in the name of Soviet-Polish friendship, which, as they thought then, would be eternal.
We, Belarusians, did not cast accusations at our neighbours, but we always remembered: how schools, our faith, land, and natural resources were taken away from Belarusians; how our ancestors died without medical care; how all those who were devoted to their native culture, faith, language, and traditions were morally and physically humiliated and destroyed.
Can one forget how Belarusian villages were shelled, how Belarusian children were whipped in foreign schools, how Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians were sophisticatedly tormented in the Polish concentration camp in Bereza Kartuzskaya? These are all facts.
But for the sake of friendship with the Polish people, we overcame this pain.
Beyond the Bug, this was taken as weakness.
But the lesson has been learned.
Time has shown that our noble aspiration to live in peace has not been appreciated by our neighbours. I am not talking about the Polish people. I am talking about the elites – the politicians, who have been thirsting for revenge all these years.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to say just a few words to my neighbours, or rather, to the peoples of the neighbouring countries: Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians. Know this! We are not planning to interfere in your lives. We wish you only good, happiness, and peace!
But this peace is so fragile today that any careless move could lead to the most severe and irreparable consequences. We would very much not want our lands to become a theatre of military operations once again and for millions of our citizens to be destroyed again, as has always been the case in history.
Belarusians do not need what belongs to others. At the same time, remember (I am addressing the peoples of the neighbouring states): in case of aggression against Belarus, we will not draw any red, yellow, black or blue lines out of spite! There is such a line – the state border! And you know that we have something to respond with. Therefore, let us live in friendship, as neighbours, as it was in the best times of our history.
But today, like on the eve of the Great Patriotic War, vultures are circling over Belarus. They are circling around Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian lands. They are ready to make a pact even with the devil, just to occupy more space on the world's political map... "From sea to shining sea".
And they would like to forever erase from world history the facts of political disgrace and moral degradation of their predecessors. They themselves would like to forget how our official neighbour, Poland, was one of the first to recognise the Nazi Reich (this is a fact), signed a non-aggression pact with it and a secret agreement on the partition of Czechoslovakia, and how, having received a part of foreign territory, it was itself crushed in a short time by its own former ally. This page of history must not be forgotten by our neighbours under any circumstances.
Would our neighbour have remained on the world map in principle if not for the Soviet soldiers? And if so, within what borders?
The authorities of our neighbours do not ask themselves such questions today. And they continue to destroy the traces of memory of their liberators.
But why? They are gone, they perished. Well, perhaps you do not appreciate them for liberating your lands. But why stir up the past? Let it remain as it is. No. Everything must be dug up, blown up, and destroyed with a sword and a ladle, erasing from memory the best that was in the history of neighbouring states.
And we draw conclusions again.
Therefore, today, September 17, the day the fateful liberation campaign of the Red Army began, we celebrate one of the most important state holidays – the Day of National Unity. Unity forged in selfless struggle for national dignity.
We are proud of the unbending will of those who did not yield to the anti-human regime. Those who went underground, waged a liberation partisan war, resisted the policy of forced assimilation.
Without such large-scale popular resistance, there would have been no reunification of the Belarusian people in 1939 into a single state.
And there would be no modern sovereign Belarus if the conditions for the development of our nation within the family of Soviet peoples had not been created.
We know this. We remember this.
Just as then, so today, unity for us... Unity for us is the main condition for the preservation and life of our state. And therefore, the question of our survival as a nation.
September 17 is one of three historical dates, along with May 9 (Victory Day) and July 3 (Independence Day), that give us the opportunity to look back at the past in order to firmly hold our present and protect our future.
These dates unite us, modern Belarusians, in our aspiration to protect our historical memory for the sake of peace on our native land.
I reiterate: we are not aggressors. Our people, by their very nature, cannot be aggressors. We do not threaten anyone and never will. This is not our policy. And objectively, we cannot threaten anyone.
But we must defend ourselves (whether we are strong or weak). This is our historical role, of our generations living in Belarus today.
Therefore, whatever internal political events may be occurring in our neighbouring countries, the peoples (I repeat again: Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Ukrainians) must understand: we are the most peace-loving nation on earth. We do not brandish nuclear weapons or any units, Wagner, and so on, and we do not threaten anyone.
But you do remember history. We did not threaten anyone then either. But we were virtually wiped off the face of the earth. In the last war, we lost every third person. And then carelessness and complacency played a significant role in the fact that we almost lost Belarus. Therefore, we remember this.
We have studied and are studying history. And we will always be ready to defend our Fatherland and our land!
(Applause)
I am addressing Belarusians today. As President and Commander-in-Chief, I want to assure you: we do not want to fight and will not fight. There will be no war in modern conditions on the territory of Belarus, because it is impossible!
(Applause)
And if, God forbid, something happens, we will all become the Brest Fortress. We will defend our land, which belongs to our children, to the last soldier and Belarusian!
(Applause)
We will do this, as I said, in the name of peace on our native land, in the name of Belarus, which we are building on the foundation of victories, achievements, experience, and the memory of our heroic ancestors.
Dear Belarusians! Live peacefully, do not worry, raise your children.
Be always happy, cherish your native land and your loved ones!
Happy holiday, Belarusians! Happy National Unity Day!
Source: belta.by