World War II is one of the historical events that is most actively used in the official discourse of the Belarusian authorities. Since Lukashenka came to power, pro-governmental ideologists, politicians, and historians have been trying to construct collective memory and national identity around this event, oscillating between the hatred of the West and affinity with brotherly Russia. May 9 (Victory Day) is one of the main official holidays in Belarus and the key reference for the construction of the ideology of “us against them” in school textbooks. Education policy in Belarus actively reproduces these ideological guidelines. In the context of the political crisis in the country, which began in 2020, the Belarusian authorities are trying to increasingly use images of World War II and, in particular, the concept of "Nazism" as one of the grounds for the stigmatisation of political opponents. In 2021 actions the rehabilitation of Nazism was made a separate article in the Criminal Code of Belarus. Now that Russia is waging a real war against Ukraine and Lukashenka is supporting Putin in it, the notions of "Victory Day," "World War II," and "Nazism" in official discourse become even more controversial.
How is the collective memory of World War II constructed in Belarus and how does it influence education policy today? How is the image of World War II and the concept of "Nazism" politically used in the official discourse in Belarus and Russia today to entice hatred? How is the criminal responsibility for the "rehabilitation of Nazism" used by the authorities to combat political opponents? How does the war in Ukraine affect the image of World War II in the collective memory of Belarusians? What needs to be done in and via education to allow people to make more informed choices?
These and other questions will be discussed at the expert webinar jointly convened by the Research Centre of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Office (OST Research Centre) and the Oxford Belarus Observatory (OBO), with the support of the GLOBSEC Policy Institute.
Please join us on Thursday, 5 March 2022, at 15.00 UK time, by registering here
