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Mysterious Belarus
2010-04-29 14:37
 This man on the faded 19th century photograph might know the answer. His name is Francišak Bahuševič. By a mere twist of his pen he determined the path of the entire Belarusian nation, which, in his time, was still a nation-to-be. In his book “Dudka Bielaruskaja” (‘Belarusian Pipe’) Bahuševič not only openly called his fellow countrymen “Belarusians” but also filled this definition with a feeling of pride. This was enough to turn the tide. The next generation of intellectuals built up on the momentum Bahuševič had created. As a result, slightly more than half a century later, Belarus became an independent country for the very first time in its history. As Valiancin Akudovič, prominent contemporary Belarusian philosopher, said in his interview to “Belarusian Atlantis”, the programme aired on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “The God created the Universe, Bahuševič invented Belarus.”
2010-03-29 11:06
 The captured Turks began to make a terrible rattling and noise in their native tongue in order to create an illusion that there were many of them in the house. However, this did not help. The robbers began to dismantle the gates.
2010-03-11 12:37
 Belarus-born adventuress as Dr. House of the 17th century
continued
The family of the officer could really use the services of Salamieja. His children kept dying right after their birth. When Salamieja entered their home, the brigadier’s wife was just about to deliver a baby. As it had already happened before, the newborn son of Karaulov was suffering from asphyxia. When Salamieja saw it, a childhood memory instantly surfaced in her mind. Once she was present during the delivery by a 40-year-old woman in a village in her homeland. The woman’s newborn son did not scream. The midwife, a simple uneducated woman, took the tab, which was used by peasants to leaven the dough, and covered the baby with it, while saying a prayer. She wasn’t a half-way through with the prayer, as the child revived and began to scream. Salamieja had no idea why it worked. However, she repeated the same trick, and it worked – the brigadier’s son came back to life.
2010-02-19 13:35
 Belarus-born adventuress as Dr. House of the 17th century.
Biographies of famous adventurers always make exciting reading. Having opened a book about Giacomo Casanova, Marco Polo, or Mata Hari, one can hardly lay it aside before the last page is reached.
Can Belarus boast with its own Baron Munchhausen, Odysseus, or Indiana Jones? Do the descendants of this country have any exciting life stories to offer?
2009-12-18 18:17
The festive table is an important part of Christmas celebration. However, modern Belarusians are only vaguely familiar with traditional Christmas rituals. For example, many believe that the table on the Christmas Eve is supposed to bend under the weight of all kinds of delicious dishes. However, traditionally the Christmas supper was prepared according to the strict rules of fast observance. This supper was called “ Kuttsia”, which was also the name of the main course. Kuttsia is a simple porridge of barley, with some addition of honey and poppy seeds. It had a mystical role in Christmas celebration. In earlier times, well-off families prepared kuttsia from wheat or rice, with hazelnuts, raisins and other sweets.
2009-12-10 11:56
 A stripe of pale moonlight fell across the floor of a dark hall. The Niasvizh castle was quiet. Its majestic building loomed over the shore of a lake. The castle tower was mirrored in the lake’s calm waters.
Old parquetry creaked under someone’s foot.
“Hush! What do you think you’re doing?!” someone whispered. “You don’t want to scare away the ghost!”
“There’s no way it’ll be more scared than I am!” another voice answered.
Two shadows, each no taller than a child’s, hid behind a large Dutchware fireplace. The eyes of this strange couple shined under the moon like four silver coins.
“It’s almost midnight. The Black Lady may show up any moment”, a boy’s voice said.
“She better not, for I’m already frightened to death”, his companion, likely a girl, squeaked.
2009-10-23 15:28
 Lazar Bogsha weighed a small golden Orthodox icon on his palm, scrutinized it carefully from all angles, and smiled. The icon’s colourful enamels were just perfect. Anybody would easily mistake it for a Byzantine work. Anybody, but him. After all, Lazar Bogsha created it himself.
If one could find a 12th century parchment listing all Polatsk goldsmiths, the name of Lazar Bogsha would be at its very top. The city where he lived stood on the Dzvina River, which made up an important part of the trade route between the Baltic and the Black seas. It was the Great Silk road of Eastern Europe connecting Vikings with the Byzantium via lands of Baltic and Slavic tribes. Polatsk markets were full of fancy foreign goods, but it was masterpieces of Byzantine goldsmiths that fascinated Lazar the most. For many years he perfected his skills until he was able to match the level of artists from Constantinople…
2009-10-05 16:11
 On a hot summer day of July 13, 1941 a dust-laden truck pulled up to the main door of an imposing building in the centre of Mahiliou. A former history museum, it hosted headquarters of the local Communist Party branch. However, this was just about to change. The air was filled with the distant sounds of explosions and the muffed racket of machine-gun fire. The Nazi army was quickly advancing, closing its grip on this strategic city on the Dnepr River. Despite of fierce resistance, the fall of Mahiliou was a matter of days.
Men in plain clothes shuttled between the building and the truck, loading it with obscure boxes and bags. The driver, whose name was Piotr Paddubski, rolled a cigarette and idly observed the bustle. “What a nice cross!” said one of the workmen, marveling over something he saw in a package.
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