(беларуская версія ніжэй)
Dear participants of the XXII Minsk Forum “Raising the Belarusian Voice in Europe “!
I want to start with a personal view on Belarus before the collapse of the Soviet Union, before the Republic of Belarus was founded, before the political power was taken by A. Lukashenko, and I will end with a perspective on German-Belarusian relations beyond this political regime.
For me, born still during World War II, as for many people in Germany, Belarus – Weißrussland, as it was called – has been for long an almost unknown country somewhere in eastern Europe, part of the then still-existing Soviet Union. It became interesting in the times of peace movement in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 80ies of the last century, when General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had proclaimed Glasnost and Perestroika, the Iron Curtain started to fall, and, as well when the memories of the Second World War, then about more than 40 years ago, became more and more vivid and present. Especially from the perspective of the churches, there was a deep desire for reconciliation with the peoples of the Soviet Union, in order to overcome still existing hostilities between the former enemies.
I participated in a public discussion, a forum organized by an academy of the protestant Church on questions how to prevent atomic war, how to come to peaceful relationships with the still existing Soviet Union. It was about our special German responsibility, the crimes the German Army – the Wehrmacht – had committed in the Eastern part of Europe and especially in Poland, Belarus and Ukraine.
On the podium sat a former officer of the Wehrmacht. He talked about his time as a soldier in Belarus – and cried, he wept.
It had taken him more than 40 years, so he said, to realize, to understand that there was no ordinary warfare possible in the war German troops had brought to the Soviet Union then. He was part of these terrible crimes, though he hadn’t committed them personally – but he had made them happen.
He had come to this insight through a visit of Chatyń, the memorial for all people who had been killed in Belarus during wartime – about one quarter of the then existing population.
He was touched by the intensity of this memorial – and especially by the message written on behalf of the victims of Chatyń and all other people that were killed in Belarus:
Dear fellow human beings, remember: We loved life, and our homeland, and you. We were burnt alive. Our request to everyone is: May grief and suffering give you strength and courage so that you can bring peace on earth forever, so that life never dies in the storm of fire!
So, this witness of World War II, a former officer of the Wehrmacht, was so touched by this message that he cried – and so was I when I visited this place some years later in 1988 together with a group of 150 Germans on a so-called political pilgrimage Return to the future.
I understood that it was our task to take responsibility for the consequences of these crimes committed by Germans in that war of annihilation – that it was up to us to ask for reconciliation, to be considered as fellow human beings with the wish to be accepted as good neighbours. And that this will be an everlasting task – as it is asked for in the message of Chatyń. This political pilgrimage had an important impact, and so one year later we organized a second one, one year later, with 70 participants. And here, for the first time after the reactor explosion of Chernobyl in 1986, our partners in Belarus confessed to us openly that they could not manage the obviously horrible consequences of this catastrophe. And so, a huge readiness emerged to help our newfound partners and friends to cope with all the troubles arising more and more after this unprecedent incident.
At this time – the Soviet Union collapsed; the Iron Curtain had definitely fallen – it was the time when Belarus made its first steps towards democracy. So, a lot of projects were initiated to help the children suffering from the Chernobyl catastrophe, to help the people, to help the country.
To illustrate these efforts, I just name one project I have been involved in from the very beginning: the project NADESHDA – a children’s and youth convalescent home for children from regions in Belarus poisoned by nuclear radiation. It’s been a common project, on bilateral, equally shared responsibility by the Belarusian authorities and by Belarusian and German civil organizations. Since that time – 1994 – thousands of children of the Gomel (Homel) Region received recovery, mental and health care. It became possible by the active engagement of people from either side, trustfully, cooperatively, efficiently, thus filling the wish for reconciliation with life. This bilateral project has just recently come to an end simply because the Belarusian authorities abandoned the principle of equal partnership and insisted on taking over control by getting the majority in decision making.
This is only one example of hundreds of NGOs, partnerships and cooperative activities between Germany and Belarus that more and more have been impeded, closed, prohibited, even prosecuted by the Belarusian authorities.
But how could it happen that all the engagement for better relationships, good neighbourliness, trustful partnership, all the readiness for taking responsibility for the consequences of the sufferance Belarusian population during wartime and after Chernobyl were refused, even expelled?
Of course, there are many internal reasons for the current crisis, caused by the character of the Lukashenka regime and the role Russia plays in the region. However, there are also reasons in Western politics and behaviour that may be considered as failings such as:
- Frequent portrayal of the West as the victor in the Cold War.
- The Eastern enlargement of the EU provoked new exclusion for Belarus, Russia, Ukraine.
- Western States proclaimed humanitarian interventions and thus justified the necessary breaches of international law.
So, the reproach of double standards in Western politics cannot be ignored – Western politics have to be much more coherent if they are expected to be recognized, accepted, and successful. The idea however, the wish for reconciliation or, a little bit more modest, the wish for understanding and coming to terms has to be newly understood and tried. So, the situation we are confronted with is by no means а reason to give up. Our responsibility is not a commitment depending on the conditions of Belarusian authorities, nor has it come to an end by the failures of Western politics. It has its own reason; it is the expression of the deep wish to establish friendly and peaceful neighborliness and a trustful cooperation which would serve our common interest.
Of course, the situation has totally changed. It is not anymore us who go to Belarus to offer help, to give good advice, to establish new forms of cooperation – this might have been considered at times even as humiliating, patronizing. So, maybe, there was not enough understanding of the situation of the Belarusian people, their history, their culture. But, for sure, these were not the reasons why many Belarusian have left their country for good, looking for better living conditions in other countries. Since 2017, there has been a continuous decline of the Belarusian population – from approximately 9 million 500 thousand to 9 million 250 thousand in 2022, most of them after August 2020. They fled to countries like Poland, Lithuania, Georgia, and Germany.
And here, as I see it, there is a good chance to fulfil the commitment given in our renewed constitution of the German-Belarusian Society with new life.
The aim of promotion of international spirit, tolerance in all areas of culture and the idea of international understanding in accordance with the human rights standards as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Charter of the United Nations is a commitment for all of us, to consider the increased number of people in Germany with Belarusian origin – now approximately 45.000 to 50.000 people – as a chance to foster and to develop new activities and projects:
- Organizing cultural projects with Belarusian authors, artists, and musicians living in Germany
- Support of Belarusian refugees in all questions of integration
- Support of organizations working in favor of the protection of people imprisoned in Belarus
- Demand for coherent policy towards autocratic regimes
- Enhancing online projects in Belarus
- Reduced working on projects existing and already working for several years in Belarus with the hope of their re-activation in future – as a kind of survival strategy.
Thus, we may find a suitable way to fulfill the tasks of our constitution, to hold on to our responsibility and to keep in mind the memorial of Chatyń.
This, of course, is a huge challenge for our small organization. But maybe our Forum today may give a start to new common activities, to establish new and more connections, to build networks, to plan new projects, to discover the richness of Belarusian culture, to develop new terms of trustful neighborhood in our country, in Europe.
Fred Dorn
Board Member, German-Belarusian Society (dbg)
Minsk Forum 2024: welcome address by Fred Dorn, Board Member at the German-Belarusian Society (dbg)
Minsk Forum 2024: прывітальны зварот Фрэда Дорна, сябра Праўлення Нямецка-беларускага таварыства (беларуская версія ніжэй)
Dear participants of the XXII Minsk Forum “Raising the Belarusian Voice in Europe “!
I want to start with a personal view on Belarus before the collapse of the Soviet Union, before the Republic of Belarus was founded, before the political power was taken by A. Lukashenko, and I will end with a perspective on German-Belarusian relations beyond this political regime.
For me, born still during World War II, as for many people in Germany, Belarus – Weißrussland, as it was called – has been for long an almost unknown country somewhere in eastern Europe, part of the then still-existing Soviet Union. It became interesting in the times of peace movement in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 80ies of the last century, when General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had proclaimed Glasnost and Perestroika, the Iron Curtain started to fall, and, as well when the memories of the Second World War, then about more than 40 years ago, became more and more vivid and present. Especially from the perspective of the churches, there was a deep desire for reconciliation with the peoples of the Soviet Union, in order to overcome still existing hostilities between the former enemies.
I participated in a public discussion, a forum organized by an academy of the protestant Church on questions how to prevent atomic war, how to come to peaceful relationships with the still existing Soviet Union. It was about our special German responsibility, the crimes the German Army – the Wehrmacht – had committed in the Eastern part of Europe and especially in Poland, Belarus and Ukraine.
On the podium sat a former officer of the Wehrmacht. He talked about his time as a soldier in Belarus – and cried, he wept.
It had taken him more than 40 years, so he said, to realize, to understand that there was no ordinary warfare possible in the war German troops had brought to the Soviet Union then. He was part of these terrible crimes, though he hadn’t committed them personally – but he had made them happen.
He had come to this insight through a visit of Chatyń, the memorial for all people who had been killed in Belarus during wartime – about one quarter of the then existing population.
He was touched by the intensity of this memorial – and especially by the message written on behalf of the victims of Chatyń and all other people that were killed in Belarus:
Dear fellow human beings, remember: We loved life, and our homeland, and you. We were burnt alive. Our request to everyone is: May grief and suffering give you strength and courage so that you can bring peace on earth forever, so that life never dies in the storm of fire!
So, this witness of World War II, a former officer of the Wehrmacht, was so touched by this message that he cried – and so was I when I visited this place some years later in 1988 together with a group of 150 Germans on a so-called political pilgrimage Return to the future.
I understood that it was our task to take responsibility for the consequences of these crimes committed by Germans in that war of annihilation – that it was up to us to ask for reconciliation, to be considered as fellow human beings with the wish to be accepted as good neighbours. And that this will be an everlasting task – as it is asked for in the message of Chatyń. This political pilgrimage had an important impact, and so one year later we organized a second one, one year later, with 70 participants. And here, for the first time after the reactor explosion of Chernobyl in 1986, our partners in Belarus confessed to us openly that they could not manage the obviously horrible consequences of this catastrophe. And so, a huge readiness emerged to help our newfound partners and friends to cope with all the troubles arising more and more after this unprecedent incident.
At this time – the Soviet Union collapsed; the Iron Curtain had definitely fallen – it was the time when Belarus made its first steps towards democracy. So, a lot of projects were initiated to help the children suffering from the Chernobyl catastrophe, to help the people, to help the country.
To illustrate these efforts, I just name one project I have been involved in from the very beginning: the project NADESHDA – a children’s and youth convalescent home for children from regions in Belarus poisoned by nuclear radiation. It’s been a common project, on bilateral, equally shared responsibility by the Belarusian authorities and by Belarusian and German civil organizations. Since that time – 1994 – thousands of children of the Gomel (Homel) Region received recovery, mental and health care. It became possible by the active engagement of people from either side, trustfully, cooperatively, efficiently, thus filling the wish for reconciliation with life. This bilateral project has just recently come to an end simply because the Belarusian authorities abandoned the principle of equal partnership and insisted on taking over control by getting the majority in decision making.
This is only one example of hundreds of NGOs, partnerships and cooperative activities between Germany and Belarus that more and more have been impeded, closed, prohibited, even prosecuted by the Belarusian authorities.
But how could it happen that all the engagement for better relationships, good neighbourliness, trustful partnership, all the readiness for taking responsibility for the consequences of the sufferance Belarusian population during wartime and after Chernobyl were refused, even expelled?
Of course, there are many internal reasons for the current crisis, caused by the character of the Lukashenka regime and the role Russia plays in the region. However, there are also reasons in Western politics and behaviour that may be considered as failings such as:
– Frequent portrayal of the West as the victor in the Cold War.
– The Eastern enlargement of the EU provoked new exclusion for Belarus, Russia, Ukraine.
– Western States proclaimed humanitarian interventions and thus justified the necessary breaches of international law.
So, the reproach of double standards in Western politics cannot be ignored – Western politics have to be much more coherent if they are expected to be recognized, accepted, and successful. The idea however, the wish for reconciliation or, a little bit more modest, the wish for understanding and coming to terms has to be newly understood and tried. So, the situation we are confronted with is by no means а reason to give up. Our responsibility is not a commitment depending on the conditions of Belarusian authorities, nor has it come to an end by the failures of Western politics. It has its own reason; it is the expression of the deep wish to establish friendly and peaceful neighborliness and a trustful cooperation which would serve our common interest.
Of course, the situation has totally changed. It is not anymore us who go to Belarus to offer help, to give good advice, to establish new forms of cooperation – this might have been considered at times even as humiliating, patronizing. So, maybe, there was not enough understanding of the situation of the Belarusian people, their history, their culture. But, for sure, these were not the reasons why many Belarusian have left their country for good, looking for better living conditions in other countries. Since 2017, there has been a continuous decline of the Belarusian population – from approximately 9 million 500 thousand to 9 million 250 thousand in 2022, most of them after August 2020. They fled to countries like Poland, Lithuania, Georgia, and Germany.
And here, as I see it, there is a good chance to fulfil the commitment given in our renewed constitution of the German-Belarusian Society with new life.
The aim of promotion of international spirit, tolerance in all areas of culture and the idea of international understanding in accordance with the human rights standards as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Charter of the United Nations is a commitment for all of us, to consider the increased number of people in Germany with Belarusian origin – now approximately 45.000 to 50.000 people – as a chance to foster and to develop new activities and projects:
Organizing cultural projects with Belarusian authors, artists, and musicians living in Germany
Support of Belarusian refugees in all questions of integration
Support of organizations working in favor of the protection of people imprisoned in Belarus
Demand for coherent policy towards autocratic regimes
Enhancing online projects in Belarus
Reduced working on projects existing and already working for several years in Belarus with the hope of their re-activation in future – as a kind of survival strategy.
Thus, we may find a suitable way to fulfill the tasks of our constitution, to hold on to our responsibility and to keep in mind the memorial of Chatyń.
This, of course, is a huge challenge for our small organization. But maybe our Forum today may give a start to new common activities, to establish new and more connections, to build networks, to plan new projects, to discover the richness of Belarusian culture, to develop new terms of trustful neighborhood in our country, in Europe.
Fred Dorn
Board Member, German-Belarusian Society (dbg)
2 December 2024
***
Мінск Форум 2024: прывітальнае слова Фрэда Дорна, члена праўлення Нямецка-беларускага таварыства
Шаноўныя ўдзельнікі XXII Мінскага форуму, які праходзіць пад дэвізам “Уздымаем беларускі голас у Еўропе”!
Я хачу пачаць з асабістага погляду на Беларусь да распаду Савецкага Саюзу, да заснавання Рэспублікі Беларусь, да таго, як палітычную ўладу захапіў А. Лукашэнка, і скончу перспэктывай нямецка-беларускіх дачыненняў шырэй, чым у кантэксце гэтага палітычнага рэжыму.
Для мяне, народжанага яшчэ падчас Другой сусветнай вайны, як і для многіх жыхароў Нямеччыны, Беларусь – Weißrussland, як яе называлі – доўгі час была амаль невядомай краінай дзесьці ва Ўсходняй Еўропе, часткай тагачаснага Савецкага Саюзу. Яна зацікавіла падчас руху за мір у Заходняй Нямеччыне 80-х гадоў мінулага стагоддзя, калі генэральны сакратар Міхаіл Гарбачоў абвясціў Галоснасць і Перабудову, пачала прыадчыняцца Жалезная заслона, а таксама калі ўспаміны пра Другую сусветную вайну, якая мінула больш за 40 гадоў перад гэтым, рабіліся ўсё больш яскравымі і актуальнымі. Асабліва з пункту гледжання цэркваў існавала глыбокае жаданне прымірэння з народамі Савецкага Саюза, каб пераадолець усё яшчэ існуючую непрыязь паміж колішнімі ворагамі.
Я ўдзельнічаў у публічнай дыскусіі, форуме, арганізаваным акадэміяй пратэстанцкай царквы па пытаннях, як прадухіліць атамную вайну, як прыйсці да мірных стасункаў з яшчэ існуючым Савецкім Саюзам. Гаворка ішла пра асаблівую адказнасць нас, немцаў, за злачынствы нямецкай арміі – Вермахта – ва ўсходняй частцы Еўропы і асабліва ў Польшчы, Беларусі і Украіне.
На трыбуне сядзеў былы афіцэр вермахта. Ён распавядаў пра тое, як быў салдатам у Беларусі – і плакаў.
Ён казаў, што яму спатрэбілася больш за 40 гадоў, каб усвядоміць, зразумець, што ў той вайне, якую тады нямецкія войскі прынеслі ў Савецкі Саюз, звычайныя баявыя дзеянні былі немагчымыя. Ён быў удзельнікам гэтых жахлівых злачынстваў, і хоць і не здзяйсняў іх асабіста – ён рабіў так, каб яны адбыліся.
Да гэтага ён прыйшоў, наведаўшы Хатынь, мемарыял у памяць усіх людзей, якія загінулі ў Беларусі ў гады вайны – а гэта каля чвэрці яе тагачаснага насельніцтва.
Ён быў крануты сілаю гэтага мемарыяла – і асабліва зваротам, напісаным ад імя ахвяраў Хатыні і ўсіх іншых людзей, якія былі забітыя ў Беларусі:
„Людзі добрыя, памятайце: Любілі мы жыццё і радзіму нашу, і вас, дарагія. Мы згарэлі жывымі ў агні. Наша просьба да ўсіх: няхай скруха і смутак згорнуцца ў мужнасць вашу і сілу, каб змаглі вы зацвердзіць навечна мір і спакой на зямлі. Каб з гэтага часу нідзе і ніколі ў віхуры пажараў жыццё не памірала!“
Такім чынам, гэты сведка Другой сусветнай вайны, былы афіцэр вермахта, быў настолькі крануты гэтым заклікам, што ён заплакаў – і я плакаў таксама, калі наведаў гэтае месца праз некалькі гадоў, у 1988 годзе разам з групай з 150 немцаў у рамках так званага „палітычнага паломніцтва“ пад дэвізам „Вяртанне ў будучыню“.
Я разумеў, што наша задача — узяць на сябе адказнасць за наступствы злачынстваў, учыненых немцамі ў той знішчальнай вайне, што мы павінны прасіць аб прымірэнні, каб нас лічылі людзьмі, якія хочуць быць прынятымі як добрыя суседзі. І што гэта будзе вечная задача – як пра гэта напісана ў пасланні Хатыні. Гэтая палітычная пілігрымка мела важны ўплыў і таму праз год мы арганізавалі другую, з 70 удзельнікамі. І тут упершыню пасля выбуху рэактара Чарнобыля ў 1986 годзе нашы партнёры ў Беларусі адкрыта прызналіся нам, што не могуць справіцца з відавочна жудаснымі наступствамі гэтай катастрофы. І вось з’явілася велізарная гатоўнасць дапамагчы нашым новым партнёрам і сябрам справіцца з усімі непрыемнасцямі, якія ўзнікаюць пасля гэтага беспрэцэдэнтнага выпадку.
У гэты час – распаўся Савецкі Саюз; жалезная заслона канчаткова ўпала – гэта быў час, калі Беларусь зрабіла першыя крокі да дэмакратыі. Таму было ініцыявана шмат праектаў па дапамозе дзецям, якія пацярпелі ад Чарнобыльскай катастрофы, па дапамозе людзям, па дапамозе краіне.
Каб праілюстраваць гэтыя высілкі, я назаву толькі адзін праект, у якім удзельнічаю з самага пачатку: праект „Надежда“ – дзіцяча-юнацкі рэгабілітацыйны дом для дзяцей з рэгіёнаў Беларусі, забруджаных радыяцыяй. Гэта быў супольны праект на аснове роўнай адказнасці беларускіх уладаў і беларускіх і нямецкіх грамадзкіх арганізацыяў. З таго часу – 1994 года – аздараўленне, псіхічную і медычную дапамогу атрымалі тысячы дзяцей з Гомельскай вобласці. Гэта стала магчымым дзякуючы актыўнаму ўдзелу людзей з абодвух бакоў на аснове ўзаемнага даверу, сумеснай эфектыўнай працы, выконваючы такім чынам жаданне прымірэння з жыццём. Гэты двухбаковы праект толькі зараз завяршыўся па той простай прычыне, што беларускія ўлады адмовіліся ад прынцыпу раўнапраўнага партнёрства і настойвалі на тым, каб пераняць кантроль, атрымаўшы большасць у прыняцці рашэнняў.
Гэта толькі адзін прыклад з сотняў НДА, партнёрстваў і сумесных мерапрыемстваў паміж Нямеччынай і Беларуссю, якія ўсё больш і больш сутыкаюцца з перашкодамі, зачыняюцца, забараняюцца і нават пераследуюцца беларускімі ўладамі.
Але як магло здарыцца, што ўсялякая заангажаванасць дзеля паляпшэння стасункаў, добрасуседства, партнёрства на аснове даверу, усялякая гатоўнасць узяць на сябе адказнасць за наступствы пакутаў беларускага насельніцтва падчас вайны і пасьля Чарнобылю былі адмоўленыя, нават выгнаныя?
Безумоўна, ёсць шмат унутраных прычын цяперашняга крызісу, выкліканых характарам рэжыму Лукашэнкі і роляй, якую адыгрывае ў рэгіёне Расія. Аднак і ў заходняй палітыцы і паводзінах таксама ёсць прычыны, якія можна лічыць недахопамі, напрыклад:
• Частае прадстаўленне Захаду як пераможцы ў халоднай вайне.
• Пашырэнне Еўрапейскага Звязу на Ўсход справакавала дадатковую ізаляцыю Беларусі, Расеі, Украіны.
• Заходнія дзяржавы абвясцілі аб гуманітарных інтэрвенцыях і такім чынам апраўдалі неабходныя парушэнні міжнароднага права.
Такім чынам, нельга ігнараваць папрокі ў падвойных стандартах у заходняй палітыцы – заходняя палітыка павінна быць значна больш паслядоўнай, калі чакаецца, што яна будзе прызнанай, прынятай і мець поспех. Аднак, ідэю і жаданне прымірэння або, крыху больш сціпла, жаданне паразумення і пагаднення, трэба нанова зразумець і паспрабаваць. Так што сітуацыя, з якой мы сутыкнуліся, зусім не падстава апускаць рукі. Наша адказнасць і абавязацельствы не залежаць ад умоваў, якія выстаўляюць беларускія ўлады, і не маюць сканчацца з-за няўдачаў заходняй палітыкі. Гэта мае сваю прычыну: гэта выраз глыбокага жадання наладзіць у агульных інтарэсах сяброўскае і мірнае суседства і давернае супрацоўніцтва.
Але, вядома, сітуацыя цалкам змянілася. Ужо не мы едзем у Беларусь, каб прапанаваць дапамогу, даць добрую параду, наладзіць новыя формы супрацоўніцтва – што часам магло выглядаць нават прыніжальным. Дык, магчыма, нам не хапала тады разумення становішча беларускага народа, яго гісторыі, яго культуры. Але, безумоўна, не гэта было прычынай таго, што многія жыхары Беларусі назаўсёды пакінулі сваю краіну ў пошуках лепшых умоў жыцця ў іншых краінах. З 2017 года назіраецца бесперапыннае змяншэнне колькасці беларускага насельніцтва — прыкладна з 9 мільёнаў 500 тысяч да 9 мільёнаў 250 тысяч у 2022 годзе, большасць з іх пасля жніўня 2020 года. Яны ўцяклі ў такія краіны, як Польшча, Літва, Грузія, Нямеччына.
І тут, як я бачу, ёсць добры шанец выканаць абавязацельствы, зацверджаныя ў нашым абноўленым статуце dbg.
Прасоўванне духу міжнароднасці, талерантнасці ва ўсіх сферах культуры і ідэі міжнароднага ўзаемаразумення ў адпаведнасці са стандартамі правоў чалавека, выкладзенымі ў Хартыі асноўных правоў Еўрапейскага Саюза і Статуце Арганізацыі Аб’яднаных Нацый, з’яўляецца абавязацельствам для ўсіх нас. Павелічэнне колькасці людзей беларускага паходжання ў Нямеччыне – цяпер прыкладна паміж 45 і 50 тысячаў чалавек – трэба разглядаць як шанец спрыяць і развіваць новыя віды дзейнасці і праекты:
• Культурніцкія праекты з беларускімі аўтарамі, мастакамі і музыкамі, якія жывуць у Нямеччыне. Падтрымка беларускіх уцекачоў ва ўсіх пытаннях інтэграцыі.
• Падтрымка арганізацый, якія займаюцца абаронай людзей, якія знаходзяцца ў турмах у Беларусі.
• Патрабаванне паслядоўнай палітыкі ў дачыненні да аўтакратычных рэжымаў.
• Пашырэнне анлайн-праектаў у Беларусі.
• Скарачэнне працы над існуючымі і ўжо некалькі гадоў працуючымі праектамі ў Беларусі з надзеяй на рэактывацыю ў будучыні – як своеасаблівая стратэгія выжывання.
Такім чынам, мы можам знайсці належны спосаб выканаць задачы нашага статуту, трымацца сваёй адказнасці і захоўваць у памяці мемарыял Хатыні.
Гэта, вядома, велізарны выклік для нашай невялікай арганізацыі. Але, можа быць, наш сённяшні форум зможа даць пачатак новай супольнай дзейнасці, наладжванню новых і большых сувязяў, будаванню сетак, планаванню новых праектаў, адкрыццю багацця беларускай культуры, выпрацоўцы новых умоваў давернага суседства ў нашай краіне, у Еўропе.