The Statue in Myerachowshchyna

The eminent son of Belarus

The bronze figure of Kosciuszko that welcomes the visitors to the house of his birth in Myerachowshchyna (Bel. Мерачоўшчына) was unveiled on May 14th 2018. Authored by Henik Loika, it is the first and only full-body statue of the General to be erected on the territory of Belarus – and indeed, the inscription on the pediment reads: To the eminent son of Belarus – his grateful compatriots. The ceremony of its unveiling was a both patriotic and supranational celebration, gathering not only Belarusians, but also Poles, Americans, Ukrainians and – allegedly – even several Russian diplomats.¹ The photo documentation of the event shows a crowd carrying white-red-white and green-red flags alike (although the prevalence of the first is perceptible).

Lenin’s meltdown – and the rise of Kosciuszko.

What makes Henik Loika’s statue so special is not just it being the first, but also the history of it coming to be. No government money were involved in its erection, quite the contrary: it is a fruit of a grassroot movement initiated by journalist Gleb Labadzenka,² and the necessary funds were collected via a citizen fundraising campaign. According to Belsat TV, 690 donors raised around 22,000 BYN for the purpose via the Talaka.org portal.³ Most curiously, the figure was casted not in Belarus, but in Ukraine, due to the advantageous prices of bronze on offer there. And where did these come from? At the time, the Ukrainian bronze had been sourced from a rather uncanny source: the dismantled statues of none other than Vladimir Lenin, which had met their long overdue demise in a series of events known as the Leninopad (ukr. Ленінопа́д – ‚Lenin’s fall’)⁴ – a mass action of removing and recasting post-Soviet statues in response to the 2013-2014 events of the Euromaidan.⁵

*Leninopad*. The dismantlement of a Lenin monument in Ovruch, Ukraine.

Naturally, one might wonder how it was possible that the openly pro-Russian regime of Lukashenka permitted the tribute to a general who fought so fiercely against the Moscovites. Historian Alexander Krausevič⁶ attributes it to the fact that in years 2017-2018, due to trade-related tensions between Putin and Lukashenka, the latter resorted to the strategy of pretending to tighten the ties with the West – the permit for the erection of the Kosciuszko statue being a convenient movement in his game.
Nonetheless, the 2003-2004 reconstruction of the wooden manor and the subsequent addition of the statue transformed Myerachowshchyna into a prominent historical landmark and a desired destination for tourists – thus, finally balancing out the ominous presence of numerous tributes to Kosciuszko’s military rival from 1794, Alexander Suvorov, which loom over the nearby town of Kobryn (Bel. Ко́брын).

References

Rusłan Szoszyn, “Kościuszko jako wybitny syn Białorusi”, Rzeczpospolita, last updated May 15th 2018, https://www.rp.pl/spoleczenstwo/art1958861-kosciuszko-jako-wybitny-syn-bialorusi [Accessed: 15.05.2023]. ↩︎
Racyja.com Editors, “Беларусы збіраюць грошы на помнік Тадэвушу Касцюшку”, Racyja, https://www.racyja.com/hramadstva/belarusy-zbirayuts-groshy-na-pomnik-tad/ [Accessed: 15.05.2023]. ↩︎
Belsat.eu Editors, “Tadeusz Kosciuszko monument opened in Belarus”, Belsat, last updated May 13th 2023, https://naviny.belsat.eu/en/news/monument-of-tadeusz-kosciuszko-opened-in-belarus-photo/ [Accessed: 15.05.2023]. ↩︎
БЕЛСАТ HISTORY, “Як Ленін дапамог Касцюшку? | Як Ленин помог Костюшко?”, Belsat History YouTube channel, published November 17th 2020, 19:02, https://youtu.be/4qyfyJPH42g [Accessed: 08.05.2023]. ↩︎
Gazeta.pl Editors, “Leninopad? – Ukraińcy obalają kolejne pomniki Lenina”, Wiadomości Gazeta.pl, last updated February 22nd 2014, https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114871,15509618,leninopad-ukraincy-obalaja-kolejne-pomniki-lenina-wideo.html [Accessed: 15.05.2023]. ↩︎
БЕЛСАТ HISTORY, “Як Ленін дапамог Касцюшку? | Як Ленин помог Костюшко?”, loc. cit. ↩︎