In Belarus 40 per cent of the land is still forested, and the wilder areas are still home to wolves, elk, wild pigs, bears and lynx – the Belavezhskaja Pusha nature reserve is Europe’s largest stretch of primeval forest. The few intrepid tourists who make it to rural areas are likely to be regaled not only by passionate folk singers in traditional embroidered peasant costumes but also by theatre groups using shadow puppets and mime. The puppetry can be illuminating: cut-out horseback knights and soldier puppets, above and across a sheaf of red silk, symbolizing rivers of blood. Belarusian history is seen as a bleak tapestry and its people are steeped in painful memories.
Most of that history, since Belarusian culture distinguished itself from that of Russia and Ukraine between the 14th and 16th centuries, has involved occupation by neighbours: Russia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. Part of the Russian Empire from the end of the 18th century, Belarus was a founding member of the Soviet Union following the Russian Revolution. In 1941, Belarus was occupied by the Nazis, who were ousted three years later by Belarusian Partisans and the Soviet Army (which included 1.1 million Belarusian soldiers). In the war years, over a quarter of the population (2.2 million people) was killed. Belarus’ Jewish population was targeted and murdered or sent to concentration camps to die. Few Belarusians have forgotten this period: ‘When you have forgotten the war, the next one has already started’, according to one local saying.
