MSI Press Blog

  National Institute for the Humanities The National Institute for the Humanities in Minsk stands as one of Belarus’s central homes for humanistic inquiry. Housed within the National Academy of Sciences, the institute functions as the country’s primary engine for historical, archaeological, and cultural research. Its scholars trace the long arc of Belarusian history, excavate ancient settlements before modern construction reshapes the land, and publish the monographs and research collections that anchor the nation’s understanding of itself. From its base on Akademicheskaya Street, the institute convenes conferences, advises state bodies on cultural preservation, and maintains the archives that hold the country’s collective memory. In practice, it serves as both a guardian of the past and a guide for how Belarus interprets its heritage in the present—quietly shaping the stories a nation tells about itself. In the 1990s, right after raspad , all the departments were focused on re...

  Khatyn Khatyn was a small rural village in what is now Belarus. On March 22, 1943, Nazi forces and local collaborators carried out a retaliatory massacre there. They burned the entire village, locked the residents — mostly women, children, and the elderly — in a barn, and set it on fire. Those who tried to escape were shot. Only a handful survived—not unlike Belarus at large, where, overall, about 25% of the entire Belrusian population perished during WWII. After the war, the Soviet government chose Khatyn as a national memorial site, not because it was the only village destroyed, but because it could stand for the hundreds of Belarusian villages that were wiped out in similar ways. The memorial was built in 1969. The design is stark and symbolic. Concrete outlines mark where each home once stood. A bell stands at each outline, ringing softly whenever the wind moves it, reminiscent of Pyotr’s peace bell, only less hopeful—and haunting. A sculpture of the lone adult surviv...

  Belarus I was bonded to Belarusians in myriad ways. I made the acquaintance of Pyotr Volkovich, Vice President of the Belarus Peace Committee, in Moscow in Soviet days; he became a bright light in my life and, apparently, I in his. Later, I taught and consulted in Belarus—for the K-12 schools and the Ministry of Education. About Belarus In the 1980s, Belarus was one of the more conservative republics of the Soviet Union. Minsk, the capital, was a city of wide boulevards, austere Soviet architecture, and quiet order. It had been almost entirely destroyed during World War II — 80% of the city flattened — and rebuilt in the postwar years with a kind of monumental symmetry. By the 1980s, it was a center of Soviet industry and administration, but not of political reform. The local leadership was cautious, slow to embrace Perestroika, and deeply loyal to Moscow. The country itself was mostly flat, forested, and rural. Villages dotted the landscape, and collective farms (kolkh...