As long as we have the maternal roots of our Motherland, the nation lives

The discussion platform “Open Knowledge” was held today, September 16, in the city of Berez, which was declared the All-Belarusian place of memory of the victims of the Polish occupation. The opinion on the importance of preserving the cultural code was shared by the chairman of the NGO “Belarusian Union of Women” Olga Shpilevskaya, writes sb.by.

- We talk a lot about genocide. Genocide is physical destruction. Ethnocide is the slow killing, the erasure of the cultural code, the destruction of a nation. This is what our people have been subjected to in Western Belarus since 1921. Physical annihilation is painful and terrifying, but mental annihilation is even worse. As long as we have roots – maternal, the roots of our Motherland – the nation lives, Olga Shpilevskaya is sure.

According to the Chairman of the NGO “Belarusian Union of Women”, we will fully appreciate the significance of the National Unity Day later, and maybe our children and grandchildren will do it. After all, it was for them that Belarusians managed to preserve not only the territory, but also their nation.

Olga Shpilevskaya reminded that the geographical position of Belarus has always made it an object of external interests, and attempts to separate Belarusians are being made to this day. Confronting them will help cohesion and national identity.