Battle for History: Belarus Debuts Divisive National Pantheon

Belarus has unveiled an official list of national heroes, a project initiated by Alexander Lukashenko in mid-September, sparking immediate controversy. While state-aligned experts describe the selection as balanced and meticulously vetted, opposition figures have decried it as a politically motivated and biased rewriting of history. The chosen figures are set to be immortalized in sculptural reliefs on the facade of the new National Historical Museum currently under construction.

The Belarusian Ministry of Culture is actively fundraising for the museum, billing it as “the most ambitious and iconic project in the cultural sphere that will become the country’s calling card.” The building itself is designed to resemble a map of Belarus, with its main facade featuring six monumental bas-reliefs. These reliefs, state media explains, will represent key periods of national history through the images of the newly canonized heroes.

According to officials, the selection criteria were clearly defined by Lukashenko himself, who stated, “The criterion is one – devotion to the interests of the native land and its people.” Pro-government experts have defended the exclusion of widely recognized but contentious figures. For example, Tadeusz Kościuszko, a leader in the American Revolutionary War and a Polish national hero born in modern-day Belarus, was rejected for serving the interests of Poland and the United States. Similarly, Kastuś Kalinoŭski, a leader of the 19th-century uprising against the Russian Empire, was deemed too “ambiguous” for the pantheon.

In stark contrast, opposition historians argue the list is a deliberate political maneuver. Historian Ales Kirkevich points out a glaring bias towards Orthodox figures while ignoring foundational leaders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. While Voivselk, the Orthodox son of King Mindaugas, is included, more significant pagan or Catholic rulers like Mindaugas himself, Gediminas, and Olgerd are conspicuously absent. The pantheon includes cultural figures like Francysk Skaryna and Yanka Kupala, but its political selections have drawn the most fire.

The most significant criticism revolves around what is seen as an attempt to appease Belarus’s main ally, Russia. Kirkevich notes the absence of prominent military and political leaders from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, such as Lew Sapieha and Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, for a simple reason: they famously fought against Moscow. Including such figures would clash with the current narrative of a historic and unbreakable alliance with Russia.

The resulting picture, according to critics, is not a pantheon but a political manifesto. It crafts a national identity for Belarusians as an Orthodox, pro-Russian people whose statehood reached its zenith during the Soviet era. This narrative, they argue, effectively erases centuries of a complex European heritage rooted in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and casts anyone who opposed Moscow as an enemy, reshaping the past to fit the political needs of the present.