Selection of Essays and Opinions

Chronicle from Belarus

Novelists, philosophers, columnists, publicists and political analysts - both in Belarus and abroad - have expressed their own emotions and offered their own analyses of the Belarussian situation. Included here are essays by Olga Tokarchuk, Volodymyr Rafeenko, Vitaliy Portinkov, Katja Petrowskaja, Olga Shparaga, Masha Gessen and many others.

Sabina Zollner
Original DE Belarussin im Exil: „Die Verletzlichkeit ist eine Grundlage für jede Demokratie“
[Belarusian in exile: "Vulnerability is a basis for any democracy"], Berliner Zeitung, October 11, 2021.
Katja Kollmann
Original DE Woyzeck in der Diaspora
[Woyzeck in the Diaspora], taz.de, October 11, 2021.
Uliana Pavlova
Original EN ‘You Can Do More From Abroad’: Belarusian Activists Face Exile in Protest Aftermath, The Moscow Times, August 27, 2021.
Janina Moroz
Original DE Belarus: Lukaschenko nimmt Rache an Schriftstellern
[Belarus: Lukashenko takes revenge on writers], DW Belarus, August 26, 2021.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
Original EN No One in Europe Is Safe From My Country's Dictator, The New York Times, August 23, 2021.
Felix Ackermann
Original EN Belarusian intellectuals the focus of Lukashenko regime's Orwellian crackdown, Neue Zürcher Zeitung – nzz.ch, August 12, 2021.
Sasha Grinkevich
Original RU На пути к новой Беларуси: еврейский вопрос
[Towards a new Belarus: the Jewish question], European Dialogue eedialog.org, July 19, 2021.
Felix Ackermann
Original DE Die große Säuberung
[The great purge], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – faz.net, July 15, 2021.
TUT.BY
Original RU Экономист: Последствием «экспортного бана» станут потери примерно 6% ВВП
[Economist: The consequence of the "export ban" will be losses of about 6% of GDP], tut.by, June 28, 2021.
Sonja Zekri
Original DE Gegen den Diktator
[Against the dictator], Süddeutsche Zeitung – SZ.de, June 10, 2021.
Claudia von Salzen with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
Original DE „Wir hätten uns eine solche Hölle nie vorstellen können“
["We could never have imagined such a hell"], Der Tagesspiegel, June 10, 2021.
Tatiana Shchyttsova
Original RU На пути к новой Беларуси: критические заметки в связи с начавшейся «работой над ошибками»
[On the way to a new Belarus: critical notes in connection with the started "work on mistakes"], CH+, June 9, 2021.
Bohdan Ben
Original EN Do this to hit Lukashenka’s regime, say Belarusian soldiers (spoiler: it’s not banning flights), Euromaidan Press, June 2, 2021.
Alhierd Bacharevic
Original DE Worte kommen immer zu spät
[Words always come too late], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – faz.net, May 29, 2021.
meduza about Chronics of protests told by its participants
Original RU Мы так много сделали и не смогли победить Хроника протестов в Беларуси, рассказанная их участниками. И история страны, которую написал Шура Буртин, meduza.io, May 19, 2021.
EN ‘We’re locked in with a psychopath’ The story of a changing Belarus — through the eyes of the people who live there, meduza.io, May 27, 2021.
Andrew Higgins and Andrew E.Kramer from Warsaw
Original EN Roman Protasevich: A Belarus Activist Who ‘Refused to Live in Fear’, The New York Times, May 25, 2021.
Timothy Snyder
Original EN Terror vs. the Truth in Belarus, substack.com, May 24, 2021.
Anne Applebaum
Original EN Other Regimes Will Hijack Planes Too, The Atlantic, May 24, 2021.
Original RU 20 лет, светит 3 года лишения свободы. Рассказываем о молодых людях, которые проходят обвиняемыми по «делу студентов»
[20 years old, will get 3 years in prison. We talk about young people, who are accused in the "student case"], people.onliner.by, May 13, 2021.
Original BE «Маці кажа, што АМАП вельмі клясны». Як жывуць сем’і, дзе канфліктуюць праз палітыку
["Mother says that riot police is very cool." How families live, where there is a conflict through politics], RFL – Radio Liberty, May 6, 2021.
Original RU "Сдулся" ли протест в Беларуси?
[Is the protest "blown away" in Belarus?], Deutsche Welle, May 3, 2021.
Nadezhda Kalinina
Original RU «Письма Шрёдингера» и рассказы в неволе. Максим Знак в заключении написал более сотни произведений
[Schrödinger's Letters and Stories in Captivity. Maxim Znak wrote more than a hundred works in prison], news.tut.by, April 9, 2021.
Felix Ackermann
Original DE Was ist Faschismus?
[What is fascism?], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – faz.net, April 6, 2021.
Felix Ackermann
Original DE Sie haben Angst vor den Furchtlosen
[They are afraid of the fearless], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – faz.net, February 25, 2021.
PL Czy rozprawa Łukaszenki z działaczami kultury ma coś wspólnego z "dobrą zmianą"?, Gazeta wyborcza, March 2, 2021.
Slawomir Sierakowski
Original EN Is Russia´s Future Belarus´s Present?, Project Syndicate, February 9, 2021.
Nadya Kandrusevich-Shidlovskaya
Original RU Дети диктатуры, PEN/Opp - Freedom of expression, literature and culture, international online magazine, Swedish PEN since 2011, February 7, 2021.
EN Children of the dictatorship, translation from Russian by Valzhyna Mort for PEN/Opp.
SV Diktaturens barn, translation from Russian by Mikael Nydahl for PEN/Opp.
Francesca Polistina
Original DE Massive Repressionen in Belarus gegen die Literaturszene: Willkürliche Festnahmen
[Massive repression in Belarus against the literary scene: Arbitrary arrests], Süddeutsche Zeitung – SZ.de, January 29, 2021.
Felix Ackermann, Warschau
Original GE Unterdrückung und neuer Aufbruch
[Oppression and a new departure], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – faz.net, January 23, 2021.
Hanna Sous
Original BE «Як Жанна Д’Арк». Расейская праваабаронца параўноўвае ўчынкі Калесьнікавай і Навальнага
["Like Jeanne d'Arc." A Russian human rights activist compares the actions of Kolesnikova and Navalny], RFE/Radio Liberty, January 18, 2021.
Igar Iliash
Original BE Трымайся, Кацюша! Маё каханне дапаможа табе ўсё пераадолець
[Hold on, Katyusha! My love will help you overcome everything], novychas.by, January 6, 2021.
Original RU “Сейчас не время”
[“Now is not the time”], euroradio.pl, January 2021.
Juri Rawawoj
Original DE Befehl aus Minsk
[Order from Minsk], der Freitag – die Wochenzeitung, Ausgabe 49, 2020.
Olga Shparaga
Original EN Revolution by Sisterhood. Letters from Belarus, Versopolis/Review, December 4, 2020.
Lucy Ash about Andrei Ostapovich
Original EN A police officer with a conscience who left Belarus, BBC News, December 1, 2020.
Hanna Sous
Original BE «Наглядчыца сказала зьняць ніжнюю бялізну і прысядаць пры ёй». Жанчыны пра гвалт, беззаконьне і надзею
[“The caretaker said to take off her underwear and squat next to her.” Women about violence, lawlessness and hope], RFE/Radio Liberty, November 24, 2020.
Volha Biziukova
Original EN Whose revolt is it? Eurozine, November 23, 2020.
Alena Minchenia, Nadzeya Husakouskaya
Original EN For many people in Belarus, change has already happened, Open Democracy, November 19, 2020.
Grigory Ioffe
Original EN Tragedy Boosts Belarusian Protests, Swift Denouement Unlikely, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 17 Issue: 164, November 18, 2020.
Irina Gorbach
Original RU «Лукашенко возьмет чернокожую девушку в парламент»: Афробеларуска хочет стать политиком
[“Lukashenko will take a black girl to parliament”: Afrobelaruska wants to become a politician], The Village Belarus, November 16, 2020.
Original EN State-run TV wage war against the aggressive West and “fascism rearing its ugly head”, mediaiq.by, Monitoring of State TV Narratives in Belarus (30/11/2020 – 06/12/2020)
Original EN Seeking Justice. Stories of Violance in Belarus, Belarus in Focus, November 11, 2020.
RU and BE У пошуках правасуддзя. Гісторыі гвалту у Беларусі, Belarus in Focus, November 11, 2020.
Vasyl Korotkyi
Original UA Тихановська: На підставі міжнародного законодавства Крим належить Україні
[Tikhanovskaya: On the basis of international law, Crimea belongs to Ukraine], Ukrinform, November 9, 2020.
Maria Kolesnikova
Original RU «Сломают пальцы, закроют на 25 лет на зоне». Мария Колесникова — о том, как ее задержали
[“They will break fingers and shut for 25 years in the zone.” Maria Kolesnikova – about how she was detained], news.tut.by, November 9, 2020.
Slawomir Sierakowski
Original EN The Women´s March of Belarus, The New York Review of Books, October 21, 2020.
Shaun Walker
Original EN Belarus´s female revolution: how women rallied against Lukaschenko, The Guardian, September 19, 2020.
Almira Ousmanova
Original EN Belarusian partisans in the Cyber Age, for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, October 2, 2020.
Luke Pierce
Original EN Tech Army Set Up by Europe’s Last Dictator Turns on Its Creator, The Daily Beast, September 30, 2020.
RU Переклады: «Лукашенко, мы тебя предупреждаем»: Как беларуские айтишники повернулись против режима, The Village Belarus, October 1, 2020.
Sławomir Sierakowski
Original EN The Making of a Revolution, Journal of Democracy, Volume 31, Number 4, Johns Hopkins University Press, October 2020.
Katja Petrowskaja
Original DE Augen weit geschlossen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – faz.net, September 30, 2020.
Marci Shore
Original EN The price of freedom. A transatlantic conversation, Eurozine, September 29, 2020.
RU Цена свободы, translated from English by Inna Berezkina for Sapere Aude, October 14, 2020.
Elisabeth von Thadden
Original DE Drachenfreunde [Kite friends], Die Zeit Feuilleton Nr. 40/2020, September 24, 2020.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
Original EN I Was a Stay-at-Home Mom. Now I’m Leading a Revolution, The New York Times, September 23, 2020.
A. Herasimenka, T. Lokot, O. Onuch, M. Wijermars
Original EN There’s more to Belarus’s ‘Telegram Revolution’ than a cellphone app, The Washington Post, September 11, 2020.
Aliaksei Kazharski
Original EN Belarus: “We have woken up and we aren’t going back to sleep”, Panorama, September 10, 2020.
Vitaliy Portnikow
Original RU Никогда мы не будем братьями, Grani.ru, September 10, 2020.
DE Wir werden niemals Brüder sein, translated from Russian by Martin Malek for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, September 14, 2020.
Olga Tokarczuk
Original EN A free Belarus is a woman.
Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel prize laureate, sends a message of solidarity with opposition leaders in Belarus, Gazeta wyborcza, September 9, 2020.
Pavel Barkouski
Original BE Вы сур’ёзна, спадар Прафесар?, Koine Community, September 9, 2020.
EN Are You Serious, Mr. Professor? Belarus’ Philosophers Respond to Žižek, translated from Belarusian by Aliaksei Kazharski for IWM Chronicle from Belarus.
DE Ist das Ihr Ernst, Herr Professor? translated from Belarusian by Martin Malek for IWM Chronicle from Belarus.
Alice Sitnikova
Original EN We are the future of Belarus — and that future doesn’t include Alexander Lukashenko, Washington Post, September 6, 2020.
Felix Krawatzek
Original EN Young Belarusians are turning away from Russia and looking towards Europe, The Conversation, September 3, 2020.
Almira Ousmanova
Original EN Belarus 2020: Time for #evalution, for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, September 1, 2020.
Daniel Bush
Original EN “No Modest Voices: Social Media and the Protests in Belarus,” Standford Internet Observatory, August 28, 2020.
Volodymyr Rafeenko
Original UA Володимир Рафєєнко: Білорусь – Страшний cуд з відстрочкою вироку
[Belarus-a horrifying court with a suspended judgment], Deutsche Welle, August 27, 2020.
Anne Applebaum
Original EN The 22-Year-Old Blogger Behind Protests in Belarus, The Atlantic, August 21, 2020.
Original RU Гибридная интервенция. Лукашенко передаёт контроль над Беларусью Кремлю, isans.org, August 20, 2020.
EN The Kremlin «Assistance» Operation in Belarus: the Other Kind of the Polite Green Man are Already on the Ground. Is Putin going to attack Belarus? isans.org, August 21, 2020.
Steven Seegel
Original EN Why Follow Belarus? for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, August 20, 2020.
Masha Gessen
Original EN “We Were Locked Up in One Country and Released Into Another”: Horror and Hope as Protests in Belarus Continue, The New Yorker, August 18, 2020.
Nataliya Gumenyuk
Original EN Why weak points of Belarus state may play in favour of the protests, for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, August 19, 2020.
Mykola Balaban
Original EN Belarus: A View from the “Near Abroad”, The New School – Transregional Center for Democratic Studies, August 19, 2020.
Maryia Sadouskaya-Komlach
Original EN Belarus Goes Its Own Way, Foreign Affairs, August 18, 2020.
Sasha Razor
Original EN The Lesson of Belarus, LARB, August 18, 2020.
Original EN In Belarus, fighting for democracy – and LGBTQ rights, Politico, August 18, 2020.
David Kurkovskiy
Original EN Belarusians are speaking as one: Alexander Lukashenko’s time is up, The Guardian, August 18, 2020.
Slawomir Sierakowski
Original EN The Cracks in Belarus’s Regime Are Multiplying, Project Syndicate, August 17, 2020.
CS Běloruský režim se stále více drolí
DE Die Risse im weißrussischen Regime mehren sich
RU Белорусский режим трещит по швам
Timothy Snyder
Original EN What Americans can learn from Belarus, Washington Post, August 16, 2020.
Ingo Petz
Original DE Ein gewaltfreier Protest getragen vom Zorn der Frauen, Mütter und Großmütter
[A non-violent protest cared by the anger of women, mothers and grandmothers], for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, 14. August 2020.
Timothy Snyder
Original PL Łukaszenko może pójść drogą Jaruzelskiego
[“We know that there is a moment when the dictator loses his self-confidence. We know that there is a moment when people stop obeying orders.”], Onet.pl, August 10, 2020.