“It’s good that we are together”: a flash mob was held at the railway station in Minsk

A dance flash mob for the Day of National Unity was organized on the eve of the holiday at the main entrance to the station Minsk-Passenger station on September 16, the correspondent of the Minsk-Novosti agency reports.

- On the eve of National Unity Day, a significant holiday for our country, we greet our passengers and guests of the city with a festive flash mob. Holding such events on the Belarusian railway has become a good tradition. About 80 people take part in the action. Among them are employees of the Belarusian Railway, veterans, representatives of creative teams, said Ilona Polovinkina, Head of the Department of Ideology and Social and Cultural Work of the Belarusian Railway Administration. The holiday is quite young, but for us railway workers, it is an occasion to once again tell everyone that we will always work for the good of our country. No matter how many years have passed, we will continue to preserve traditions and pass them on from generation to generation.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Riga in 1921, after the Polish-Soviet war, the territory of Belarus was divided. The western part of the country fell to Poland, while the eastern part remained Soviet. The people were divided against their will. On September 1, 1939, World War II began. That day, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. By mid-September, the Polish government had effectively lost control of the state, with the Nazis advancing further east. Then Soviet troops crossed the border, taking control of the eastern regions of Poland, which later led to the unification of the divided Belarusian people within the borders of one republic.

- I am almost the same age as National Unity Day. After the division of the country, the Eastern part of Belarus included only a few counties of the former Minsk province, where only 1.5 million people lived. For comparison, in the Western part there were almost 4 million. During two state enlargements (1924 and 1926), the territory of the BSSR was significantly expanded at the expense of the lands of the Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel provinces, transferred to the RSFSR. Minsk was about 50 km from the new border with Poland. To protect the state, in the 1930s, the capital of the BSSR wanted to make Mogilev. But this decision was rejected when in 1939 the Western part of Belarus joined the Eastern part. This event was fixed in my mind thanks to the stories of my relatives. The next test in the life of Belarusians was the Great Patriotic War. She took many lives in our home. My grandfather had 15 children. Unfortunately, only my mother and her two sisters survived. My father went through the war, but he never came back. In those years, my wife’s father died. These terrible war years left an imprint on the families of many Belarusians. Therefore, after the war, we did not need to teach patriotism, we absorbed it with our mother’s milk, said Anatoly Krivchik, a veteran of the Minsk distance of the Belarusian Railway.

The beautiful musical composition was performed by the exemplary dance ensemble “VI-ZA-VI” of the House of Culture of Railway Workers of Orsha and employees of the Belarusian Railway. With the help of dance, they demonstrated the unity, cohesion and friendship of the Belarusian people.

- It is very important for me to participate in this flash mob. Such a colorful dance would not have come out without our close-knit and friendly team. So in the country: our people achieve great results by acting together. For my family, National Unity Day is also a big holiday. I have many siblings and cousins as well. On this day, we gather our whole family at the festive table, our grandmother shares stories from the past, and we remember our traditions. At such moments, I understand how good it is that we are together, said Valeria Pashkovskaya, a pupil of the children’s railway named after K. S. Zaslonova.

People who came from different parts of Belarus watched the flash mob with curiosity. Many people filmed a fiery dance on their phone.

- A very interesting, beautiful and even modern event was prepared at the railway station. I have a friend here, she also participated in the flash mob, invited me to watch and at the same time film her performance. I think there should be such events. You walk around the city and there are flags everywhere. Someone dances, sings, thanks to this, residents and guests of the capital are in a good mood. I look at this beauty and I understand how much I love my country, Alesya shared.

Photo by Diana Shabala