Three Heroes Of Passing Year

Iryna Khalip
29.12.2023, 13:55
19,272

Looks like it's you and me.

In general, the best pre-New Year activity is to do anything but sum up the results of the year. Because the results are horrendous. The war, Hamas, the annexation of Guyana by Venezuela are burning in different parts of the world, and the fuse can reach a barrel of gunpowder at any moment. We understand too well how everything that is happening threatens the planet, there is no need to repeat it.

Still, I always want to talk about the heroes of the year. Because against the backdrop of any horror, there are people who inspire us with hope that humanity still has a chance. Protesters from Iran to Serbia, Ukrainian volunteers, Israeli soldiers — they all prevent us from falling into despair and plunging into a viscous feeling of total hopelessness.

As for Belarusians, I would identify three heroes of the year: the Belarusian in jail, the Belarusian who left, and the Belarusian who remained (the order of listing is random). Everything now rests on these three. They are the ones who preserve the country and the nation, they are the ones who protect the past, and do not allow the road leading to the future to be completely destroyed.

The Belarusian in jail is our conscience. While we are cutting carrots for the Olivier salad, they are held in a punishment cell. Or in a pretrial detention cell, or in a prison cell, or in a penal colony, sewing mittens. They are deprived of parcels and visits, letters are not given to them, they undergo prison transportation, new charges and sentences are added. They remain at the complete mercy of the beasts in uniform, but at the same time absolutely free. Following them, prisoners who got there long before the protests started saying “Long live Belarus!”. They, Belarusian political prisoners, do not believe that those who remained free are guilty of anything or owe them anything. They are convinced that they did everything right. Perhaps they even feel sorry for the others — those for whom the punishers may still come, and who have this whole hellish path ahead of them. On New Year's Day, they do not allow themselves to relax and indulge in sentimentality, because it is dangerous: you may daydream about how soon you will be released, and then you will receive an additional sentence. The imprisoned Belarusian never gets too emotional or over-expressive. Conscience should not scream: it should keep us from stupidity and meanness.

The Belarusian who left is our heart. It hurts and does not allow you to calm down. It is in the heart that the ashes of Klaas knock, calling for memory and revenge. Heart makes us scream at the top of our lungs about what is happening in Belarus, gather for rallies around the globe, sew white-red-white flags, and transfer money to the Kalinouski Regiment. Heart hurts terribly at night and cries from loneliness in a foreign country, but it persistently pumps blood and forces us to act every day: to tell the world about what is happening in Belarus, to go out with pickets and flags to the Belarusian embassies, to write letters to prisoners, and to help their families. To vigilantly ensure that Belarus does not disappear from the context and does not turn into a black spot on the map, which no one will remember, and what difference does it make what was there before and what is happening now. The Belarusian who left is the heart. That is, a muscle that provides blood circulation.

The remaining Belarusian is our soul. They, fully understanding how dangerous it is to stay, breathe life into the rapidly emptying cities, preventing them from falling asleep forever. They wander through parks and streets, ride jingling trams, clutch an autumn chestnut and a keychain with “Pahonia” in their pockets. And every evening they return to a house that is alive as long as at least one inhabitant remains in it. They pass along the routes that hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have recently walked, and the paving stones of the squares, the asphalt of the streets, the stone of the underground passages under their feet remember everything that has happened, and what will certainly happen.

Three Heroes Of Passing Year

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