Opinions & Interviews
Opinion: A nation that fails to appreciate its history has no future
MINSK, 9 May (BelTA) – A nation that fails to appreciate its history has no future. Head of the Belarus President Administration Igor Sergeyenko made the statement on 9 May, BelTA has learned.
The official underlined the importance of the 75th anniversary of the Soviet people’s victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, which was marked by an army parade on 9 May. He said: “We cannot but honor memory. A nation that fails to appreciate its history has no future.”
Festivities in the nation’s capital and all over Belarus continue. The head of the Belarus President Administration said he was confident the festivities will be properly organized because they are organized for the people.
He said that his father, Piotr Mikhailovich Sergeyenko, spent two years fighting on frontlines as a combat engineer. “A senior sergeant. Three orders and a medal of valor for accomplishments in combat. I carefully preserve the combat awards of my father,” Igor Sergeyenko admitted. It is important to preserve such evidence because it signifies the heroic deeds of common soldiers, officers, people fighting in the occupied territories, people working hard on the homefront to supply frontline troops, the official added.
After the army parade Igor Sergeyenko and his deputies laid a wreath and flowers at the obelisk in Pobedy Square.
“The Victory’s anniversary is a great celebration. Certainly, it is a sad one because today we mourn those, who fell for the sake of freedom and independence of our country, those, who perished in the furnace of that war. Nevertheless, it is a life-asserting and solemn cerebration. An army parade, festivities near the Minsk Hero City stele, and a speech by the head of state took place today. Thousands of Minsk residents and visitors turned up for the event because their souls and hearts told them to,” Igor Sergeyenko noted.
The head of the Belarus President Administration pointed out that the war had left a mark on every Belarusian family to a degree. “Someone’s father or son didn’t come back from the war. Entire families and partisan units perished. Fortunately, Great Patriotic War veterans still live among us. Today we saw they were present during the festivities. It is remarkable that young Belarusians, students of many universities, and people from the regions came as well,” he said.
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