Pazniak called Masherau the greatest evil in the history of Belarus, not counting Lukashenka
This is stated in the book about the veteran of the Belarusian national movement, written by Zmicier Hurnievič and Paval Mažejka, "To Stand in the Breach of the Wall," writes "Belsat."
Petr Masherau in his office. Photo by Yury Ivanov
For Zianon Pazniak, Masherau, who led the BSSR from 1965 to 1980, is "perhaps the greatest criminal against the Belarusian nation after Lukashenka." Today, a myth is being built around him as a politician who achieved a great deal for the BSSR, but all his achievements are the result of the diligent work of his predecessor Kiryl Mazurau.
"Petr Masherau, for me and our Belarusian community, is a man who did a lot of evil in Belarusian history: he destroyed the Belarusian school, the village, Polesia, trampled culture, and ruined the water nature with land reclamation," he says.
However, one of the most prominent figures is Kastus Kalinoŭski.
"Self-sacrificing people did a lot for the future of Belarus. Such were Kalinoŭski and the Kalinoŭskis. And now there are people, intelligent, historians, scientists, but their thinking is based on rational, pragmatic concepts. They are as if on a horizontal plane. At a time when one should ascend to the sky and look from the heights of heaven at what was happening, what was the spirit of the people, why they sacrificed themselves, why they went to their deaths. It's not just statistics here. It's the same with Kalinoŭski," says Zianon Pazniak.