‘Coat Thieves’ and Bandits? Belarusian Counter-Memory of the ‘Cursed Soldiers’

Dobrosielski, Paweł; Jaskułowski, Krzysztof; Majewski, Piotr

doi:2450-8462

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‘Coat Thieves’ and Bandits? Belarusian Counter-Memory of the ‘Cursed Soldiers’ Dobrosielski, PawełJaskułowski, KrzysztofMajewski, Piotr

Object structure

‘Coat Thieves’ and Bandits? Belarusian Counter-Memory of the ‘Cursed Soldiers’

Acta Poloniae Historica T. 128 (2023), Mnemonic Wars in Poland

Dobrosielski, Paweł ; Jaskułowski, Krzysztof ; Majewski, Piotr

Polska Akademia Nauk. Komitet Nauk Historycznych ; Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla ; Fundacja Instytutu Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Warszawa

2023

p. 45-65

Belarusian minority in Poland ; counter-memory ; cursed soldiers

In the article, we analyse attitudes of representatives of the Belarusian minority in Poland towards the armed anti-communist underground operating in the Podlasie region after 1944 (the so-called ‘cursed soldiers’). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with various Belarusian actors, as well as on observations made during field research in the Podlasie region in June 2021, we are able to illustrate a clash between official commemorative practices and the local and communicative memory of the Belarusians. We analyse the role played by the collective memory of the underground among the Belarusian minority in Podlasie against the backdrop of the hegemonic politics of memory that glorifies the ‘cursed soldiers’ as national heroes. The analysis of counter-hegemonic memory accounts and their relation to dominant narratives uncovers the emotions generated by the hegemonic politics of memory among representatives of the Belarusian minority, who generally regard it as depreciating their experience and evoking a sense of endangerment. We show that Belarusian memory is perceived as incompatible with the ideological assumptions of the hegemonic Polish memory; therefore, we want to give voice to the marginalised representatives of the Belarusian minority. However, the Belarusian minority should not be perceived as a homogenous group – our analysis points to the fact that various actors various actors negotiate the hegemonic politics of memory in various ways when faced with the pressure of assimilation.

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