Two dozen nationalities live here in peace and harmony - walked along Sopotskin

The urban village of Sopotskin is one of the oldest settlements of Grodno district, it is more than five centuries. The first written mention of it dates back to 1514, reports sb.by.

Sopotskin is located on the border of three states: Belarus, Poland and Lithuania. In this colorful urban village with a population of a thousand people there are many interesting components for journalistic attention: rich history, unique architecture, long folk cultural traditions.

However, the most important thing is that here, on the hospitable Belarusian land, representatives of twenty nationalities live hand-in-hand in peace and harmony. Together they create, raise children and grandchildren, confidently look to the future. As is customary in rural areas and small villages, where everyone knows each other, joy in Sopotskin is multiplied by all, and grief is divided in half.

In the multinational Sopotskin, Belarusian, Russian, Polish and Lithuanian speech is heard everywhere. And two majestic temples – a church and a church – look at each other with domes and crosses. Different Christian denominations have coexisted peacefully for many years.

Once there were fierce and bloody wars, and now there is peace and quiet. It's just an unearthly beauty around! Snow-white clouds float on the clear blue sky, cranes flying away for the winter in warm lands gently crow. And the locals carry in their hands or carry from the nearby forest fox mushrooms and other gifts of the forest. From this idyllic picture from nature blows calm and light autumn sadness.

There and here - on trees, poles and roofs of houses - you can see many empty nests of storks: birds flew away for wintering in warm lands. It is even surprising how they withstand long flights, overcoming 5,000-7 thousand kilometers in a few weeks, and in the spring the Belarusian beads return to the place from which they flew to distant Africa.

In fact, in this colorful settlement, every street and every house is literally imbued with the spirit of history, and the operating (!) wooden well located right on the central square of the city village only adds color to this multinational town. However, new trends are clearly felt.

For example, on a large multimedia screen, located, by the way, on the central square of Sopotskin, near the monument to Lenin, videos of preventive content, stories about the tourist attraction of this unique beauty of the region, rich in information local history materials and documentaries about the main natural pearl of the surroundings - the Augustow Canal.

Returning to the monument to the leader of the world revolution, we once again state the obvious: one cannot tear a single page out of the history book, because it is part of our modern life. And while some of our not too far-sighted politicians in Belarus’ geographical neighbors are destroying monuments and memorials, we are protecting them, restoring them and erecting new ones.

As evidence and confirmation of the above – the mass grave of Soviet soldiers, located in the central square of the city village. Here rests the ashes of 971 soldiers. At the same time, the list of fearless heroes who died for our Motherland, for our freedom and independence is constantly growing. This merit of the servicemen of the 52nd Specialized Search Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus (they find medallions, documents, personal belongings and remains of soldiers and officers at the site of bloody battles), as well as local historians.

One of them is Elena Kosciuszko, a history teacher at Sopotzkin High School. Elena Petrovna headed the school scientific society and the Kreeveda circle for more than a decade. The historian, who is a teacher of the highest qualification category, conducts great patriotic work with the younger generation. Students regularly win at the Olympiads, as well as present their projects at various scientific and practical conferences. Elena Kosciuszko is one of the heads of the school local history museum, rich in exclusive exhibits. She says excitedly:

- There is such a stamp, as if today’s children and teenagers are completely fascinated by gadgets and spend all their free time with them. Not true! Our children are passionate people, with inquisitive and burning eyes. We have 6 main guides-school students who conduct fascinating excursions for their peers and adults. There are also guides who take a highly specialized topic and work on it. By the way, engaged in the noble cause of searching and restoring the names of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, many students found the stories of their ancestors-frontiers. You should have seen how happy they were when they learned the details of the warring grandfathers and great-grandfathers! Of course, open archives, modern technologies and digitized databases of defense ministries now greatly simplify this process, but it is still a very painstaking local history work. It helps to restore the history of the family, thereby preserving the stories of the exploits of ancestors.

The sb.by correspondents and the nearby dots passed. For information, the bunker is a long-term firing point, a fortification structure made of durable materials, designed for firing various fire weapons from a protected room.

Concrete giants lined up in staggering order in the vicinity of Sopotskin - the soldiers and commanders who lived in them fought to the last drop of blood, for a long time detaining the Nazi armada, armed to the teeth and hitherto invincible, which was torn deep into the territory of the USSR. Defensive dots were built from monolithic reinforced concrete. They were also strengthened with cobblestones, iron beams, steel rails and fittings. Such a formidable structure, even by modern standards, could not penetrate even powerful artillery guns

Photocor Alexander Minko and I carefully study the DOT No. 66 located on the hill and at the crossroads of all roads. Despite its almost 90 years of age, the achievement of Soviet military engineering is still impressive.

Near it there is a well-groomed territory - benches, neat paths, numerous information stands and a long portrait gallery of defenders and liberators of the Motherland - this is the Alley of Memory.

Here's a portrait of Nikolai Podgursky. The commander of the 2nd Company of the 455th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division headed the heroic defense of the first fort of the Grodno fortress. The 22-year-old lieutenant, bleeding, left a suicide note: "Comrades! Anyone who finds us dead, know that we have died honestly, as befits soldiers of the Red Army, defending the honor and independence of our Motherland. Death to the German occupiers! Avenge us, comrades! Nearby is a frozen image of 23-year-old captain Vladimir Shchegolev, as they say, with a full parade. The commander of the squadron of the 162nd Grodno Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment died brave July 29, 1944.

And in a young birch grove planted in honor of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, a grasshopper chirps. This purely peaceful sound is a contrast to the horrors of the past war and a symbol of eternal life. As another reminder of the Great Patriotic War – a whole scattering of automatic cartridges, which pushed to the surface long-suffering Belarusian land.

We were leaving the town of Sopotskin when the twilight was already thickening in the street. To leave the hospitable place, frankly, was a pity. After all, just a few hours spent here we managed to learn a lot of interesting and useful information.

I'm going to meet with a steady stream of sparkling foreign cars. I thought: now every family has a personal car, or even several. We're good! And now, as the classic said, the car is not a luxury, but a means of transportation.

I thought: I would like to meet a modern Amazon on a horse on such a busy track. Dreams, dreams... But suddenly we hear the characteristic hooves tapping on the asphalt, and from behind the turn a pretty lady appears, sitting on horseback on a frisky horse. It's Larissa and Baby.

We take a few memorable photos for goodbye. Larisa, who works as an online business consultant, tells us very atmospheric words: “I was not born in Sopotskin, but I moved here.” It's the perfect place to live - there are great people here. This is my home. It's warm and cozy here.

We treat the good-natured Baby with a ripe apple that has just been picked in the garden, take pictures of the unknown from where the multicolored butterfly with open wings took so late and say to the beautiful Sopotskin not “goodbye!” but “goodbye soon”. For, having been here once, I really want to come back here again