Minsk

The article, based on synchronous sources, archival documents and press publications, examines the activities of two artistic associations: the Theater of Revolutionary Satire and the Blue Blouse, which were active in Minsk in the 1920s. Both propaganda theaters operated on the principle of a “living news-paper”, combining political agitation and propaganda with elements of entertainment performances, dance performances and cabarets. The Minsk Theater of Revolutionary Satire produced performances and miniatures under the direction of E. A. Mirovich, V. P. Bazilevsky and P. P. Bogdanov. Despite the big plans of its leaders, the theater was able to realize itself and ceased its activities by 1922. But the request for new propaganda art led to the emergence of a new ropaganda theater “Blue Blouse”, which had followers in Belarus and, in particular, a theater group led by playwright and public figure E. E. Boginsky. The article also clearly defines the connection and continuity between the Theater of Revolutionary Satire and the Blue Blouse, both common features and approaches to presenting scenes and plots, as well as differences. In the work of the Minsk “Blue Blouse” - the theater “Kropidło”, together with all-Union approaches, local cultural and national specifics were largely implemented, expressed in the coverage of topics of national politics in the BSSR and Poland. Theater actors took part in street performances, mass events and politcarnivals during Soviet mass celebrations. Subsequently, propaganda groups were transformed into official state theaters.

Die Jahre 1967 und 1968 markieren den Beginn einer massen- haften Auswanderung von Jüdinnen und Juden aus der UdSSR, von der auch Belarus stark betroffen war. Dass sie in so großer Zahl auswandern konnten, war der vorangegangenen Entspan- nungspolitik zwischen der Sowjetunion und den USA geschul- det. Zum konkreten Auslöser für viele der Betroffenen wurde der Sieg Israels im Sechstagekrieg von 1967. Wie Kriegsteil- nehmer und zeitgenössische Beobachter berichten, trug dieser Sieg zum positiven Bild bei, das jüdische Sowjetbürgerinnen und -bürger vom Staat Israel hatten, und milderte für sie die Schärfe der sowjetischen Propaganda.

The article offers an example of an argument-driven data analysis of 120 petitions issued in 1971-1972 by a Soviet Jewish emigrant from Minsk by the name of Ernst Levin (1934-2016). In Levin's case petitions became a principal instrument of his struggle for emigration from the Soviet Union, which lasted altogether 582 days. Probing ggmap and ggplot2 packages available for R programming language on historical data, this study intends to visualize and consequently reconstruct the way and intensity of Levin's communication with Soviet authorities and international organizations. In doing so, it approaches the emigration as a process, scaling and visualizing its durability. Displaying and highlighting the changes in the tactics of petitioning over time, the presented in the article graphs and visualizations allow considering Ernst Levin's emigration efforts from a multi-dimensional perspective of political and public actors, places, organizations, individual decisions and collective actions.

Дом Правительства – одно из самых известных зданий Минска и важный памятник архитектуры советского конструктивизма, в связи с чем особенности проектирования и строительства этого здания известны довольно неплохо. В 2023 г. в ходе выявления документов для выставки, посвящённой 90-летию со дня открытия Дома Правительства, были обнаружены ценные документы по истории и эксплуатации этого здания в первые годы после освобождения белорусской столицы от нацистской оккупации. По документам Национального архива Республики Беларусь. "Архивы и делопроизводство"№ 1 (151), 2024 г.

400-page album “Minsk. Heritage of old city. 1067-1917” was published by “Belarus” publishing house with fi nancial support of Ministry of Information, and became the bestseller at the International book fair in Minsk. The second chapter “Minsk. Heritage of the capital of Belarus. 1917-2017” is being prepared for its 950-birthday celebration. How can another album surprise the readers? OnAir talked to the authors – historian Viktar Korbut and photographer Dzmitry Lasko.

Albumy z rysunkami Czesława Moniuszki, ojca kompozytora Stanisława Moniuszki, są przechowywane w Bibliotece, Muzeum i Archiwum Warszawskiego Towarzystwa Muzycznego. Mimo że rysunki te zostały częściowo opublikowane w wydanym przeze mnie albumie Białoruś, Litwa, Polska czasów Stanisława Moniuszki w rysunkach jego ojca Czesława Moniuszki (Warszawa 2019) oraz w artykułach zamieszczanych na łamach czasopism naukowych w Polsce, Litwie i Białorusi, w większości pozostają nadal dziedzictwem „ukrytym”. Wszystkie rysunki zostały przeze mnie opracowane oraz uporządkowane według kryterium geograficznego i tematycznego, co pozwala zestawić owe dzieła Czesława Moniuszki z życiorysem jego syna Stanisława. Może to okazać się szczególnie użyteczne dla badaczy życiorysu Stanisława Moniuszki, który, mimo że jest „ojcem polskiej opery narodowej”, warszawianinem, większość swojego życia spędził na Białorusi i na Litwie. W rysunkach Czesława Moniuszki została odzwierciedlona jego migracja z Mińszczyzny do Wilna i Warszawy oraz szlaki jego wędrówek: to zarówno krajobrazy miast, miasteczek i wsi ówczesnych ziem białoruskich, litewskich i polskich, jak i portrety samego Stanisława Moniuszki oraz osób, które go otaczały.

The collapse of the so-called "socialist bloc" of states at the turn of the 1980-1990s. raised, among other things, the question of the formation and / or reformatting of national, regional and local identities in Central and Eastern Europe. This question turned out to be relevant in the context of rethinking the image of a post-socialist city. In this article, we plan to address a number of aspects of processes and practices related to architecture and cultural heritage policy, urban planning and identity in the post-socialist city.
Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, Bratislava, cities of the former GDR and others, which developed for several decades under the conditions of the socialist (with all possible remarks) regime, at the new stage retained a number of visual features that referred to the socialist past. The surviving monuments, elements of toponymy, urban space planning, recognizable buildings (such as, for example, the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw), on the one hand, create a common space of historical memory in the region of Central and Eastern Europe; on the other hand, the new nationalizing projects of post-socialist societies have set and are setting the contours of singularity, national and local selfness, redefining the political and cultural maps of cities.
While exploring the city as a political text, we plan to take a closer look at how the visual experience of everyday life influences the formation of post-socialist national identity and determines the commemorating practices of residents of such cities.

The year of 2017 marked the 950th anniversary of the first mention of Minsk in written sources. The year of 2018 celebrates the centenary of Minsk as the capital of Belarus. The article gives a few facts on some of the buildings associated with the emergence of the Belarusian statehood in 1918. The etymology of Minsk is analyzed. Much attention is paid to the city’s architectural heritage – from ancient times to the present. Some passages from Minsk famous residents’ memoirs are quoted.

The recollections of the inhabitants of Minsk is a valuable source for getting to know the history of the city. Their particular value lies in the fact that they show the city’s life from the inside with all its contradictions. The inhabitants of Minsk who considered themselves Poles, and until 1863 constituted a significant part of the urban community, influenced the life of the city and this role, albeit to a lesser extent, carried on - until 1917. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, despite the city belonging to the Russian Empire, Minsk, as before, when it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth, was part of the Polish-language cultural and mental space. Among the residents of the city, who were mostly Catholic and Greek Catholic (after 1839 - among the Orthodox, former Uniates), nobility and burghers, the language of culture and everyday interaction was Polish; there was also attachment to the traditions of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The name of the city of Minsk or Minsk Lithuanian was understood as a city in Lithuania - i.e. in the area of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, part of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this article based on the memoirs of the then inhabitants and guests of the city - Tadeusz Korzon, Zofia Kowalewska, Ferdynand Szabłowski (in the transmission of Z. Kowalewska), Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Jan Bułhak, Adam Bahdanowicz, Aniela Bahdanowicz (in the transmission of A. Bahdanowicz), Mikołaj Ułaszczyk and others - an attempt was made to reflect the perception of Minsk and the place of the city in contemporary Lithuania and Belarus, Poland and Russia.

The article analyses the first examples of the systematic use of the Belarusian-language version of toponyms in the mass media from 1906–1907: in the Vilna (Vilnius) newspapers Nasza Dola and Nasza Niwa. Some of the forms of toponyms used in these weeklies are the same as contemporary ones: Брэст, Вілейка, Віцебск, Глыбокае, Гомель, Гродна, Заслаўе, Магілёў, Мікалаеўшчына, Мінск, Навагрудак, Полацк, Рагачоў, Смаргонь, Стоўбцы and others. At the same time, other forms of the names of some of these settlements appear, borrowed both from the Russian language or spelling tradition: Вітебск, Глубокае; and from Polish: Брэсць, Вітэбск, Гродно, Магілеў. The names Ашмяна, Смаргоні, Стоўпцы may be derived from Belarusian-Polish linguistic practice. The town of Маладзечна is referred to only in the form Маладэчна. The name Менск appears in the first Belarusian newspapers only in 1906, sometimes in parallel with Мінск, and from 1907, only Мінск is used. The formation of the “national pattern” (the term introduced by the Belarusian researcher Iryna Haponienka) of Belarusian toponymy in the first Belarusian-language newspapers reflects the complex process of the formation of Belarusian national identity. This process was significantly influenced by Polish, but above all by Russian. This explains the similarity of the forms of many toponyms in Nasza Dola and Nasza Niwa in 1906–1907 and in contemporary Belarusian literary language, which, in turn, underwent a strong Russification after the reform of spelling (in fact, grammar) in 1933, as well as the official change of the form Менск to Мінск in 1939.

The article attempts to collect some materials about several buildings in Minsk that survive to this day and are associated with the events on June 23, 1941 – July 23, 1944: between the first and the last German bombing attack on the city, which set up a chronological framework for the period when the city was directly affected by the events of the World War II. The buildings that survive to the present day are listed alphabetically according to current addresses. The history of architectural objects before 1941 and after 1944 is reflected selectively, if it is essential for clarification of their fate under the German occupation.

In the article, the author analyzes vexillological objects from the territory of the Minsk region from the 16th to the 19th centuries based on text sources, as well as authentic flag panels and images with them.
The author examines the flags of the noble militia, guild banners, castle flags, the standard of the Minsk castellan Stefan Rusetsky and others. Analysis of vexillological objects in the context of a specific territory, among other things, gives the researcher an important tool for analyzing the cultural and political characteristics, traditions and trends characteristic of this territory, and also has practical significance for culture and tourism.

Niniejsza analiza poświęcona jest temu jak się zmieniał obraz PKW „Wagner”, wagnerowców oraz J. Prigożyna w białoruskich mediach rządowych, prorządowych i okołorządowych w okresie od lutego 2022 do lipca 2023 roku, czyli od samego początku wojny w Ukrainie, aż do momentu rzeczywistego umieszczenia członków PKW „Wagner” na terenie Białorusi.

The political use of history to affirm dominant political discourses and form a system of loyalty has become an integral part of modern domestic and foreign politics. Poland represents a classic example of the instrumentalisation of history. History has become the subject of controversy, and sometimes acute conflicts of Poland with Russia, Ukraine, Germany and Lithuania. Until recently, Belarus remained a blank spot in Polish historical politics. The aim of the research is to study the Belarusian direction of Polish historical politics. The research is based on an institutional approach. The article reveals the influence of the foreign factor on the formation of Polish historical politics. The conceptual foundations and goals of the Polish historical politics in relation to Belarus are analysed. The characteristics of actors, institutions and practices of Polish historical politics are given. In conclusion, we raise the question of assessing the effectiveness of Polish historical po...

The paper considers the current condition and problems of territorial planning of extra-urban transport in Russia. The paper analyzes the key parameters of improving the transport system of Russia as one of the most important elements of the economic system. The main social and economic requirements for documents of territorial planning of transport in Russia at the regional level are contained in the regional standards of urban planning design. They set the time limits for maximum transport accessibility from places where people live to places where important social and economic objects and service institutions are located. The paper provides examples of the most important promising projects in the construction of extra-urban transport infrastructure. Similarities and differences between general layouts and master plans in terms of territorial planning of transport infrastructure are shown. The problems of planning transport systems of urban agglomerations are considered. Recommend...

ABSTRACT: The so-called “Stalinist episode” (1948/9–1955/6 in Warsaw; 1945 dragged out to the late-1950s in Soviet-held Minsk) was of crucial significance to both cities, being marked by intensive construction work primarily focussed on the respective city centres. In Warsaw, this was a brief and highly-charged seven or so years intricately intertwined with setting up the Polish People’s Republic. The foundations were thus laid for a so-called socialist capital city, characterised by ‘communalisation’ of property, zealous architects enjoying Party favour and ripping down the burnt-out ruins of a great many readily restorable buildings; above all tenement houses from the anathematised «bougeois-capitalist» era of c.1850–1914. Re-building in the capital of the BSSR still enjoys wide recognition for transforming it into a million+ city. The obliterated main street became the showpiece Stalin (now Independence) Avenue; Lenin, Engels, Karl Marks, other central streets undergoing partial redevelop-ment. While key historic monuments were ripped down, the still prominent remnant architecture from c.1850–1914 was typically restored, heightened or readapted to suit the Stalinist aesthetic. ‘Historic Minsk’ began to be reinvented after 1991. Summary reference is additionally made to the respective pre-1939 and pre-1941 urban-architectural profiles of Warsaw and Minsk, their wartime destruction and continued urban re- development beyond the key Stalinist ‘episode’ that had defined vital aspects of the post-1945 built urban environment.

Os Acordos de Minsk representaram um marco importante para a diplomacia mundial,
uma vez que foi a primeira vez em que a Alemanha assumiu a liderança na resolução
diplomática de um conflito internacional, papel que normalmente tem sido desempenhado
pelos Estados Unidos. Isso pode ser visto como uma mudança significativa na dinâmica
de poder na diplomacia internacional e uma demonstração do papel crescente da
Alemanha como um ator importante na resolução de conflitos internacionais.
Além disso, os Acordos de Minsk também foram significativos porque foram um
exemplo de um acordo diplomático bem-sucedido, pelo menos em teoria. Eles foram
assinados após vários meses de negociações intensas entre a Ucrânia, a Rússia, a
Alemanha e a França e buscaram uma solução pacífica para o conflito na Ucrânia.
No entanto, muitas das cláusulas dos Acordos de Minsk não foram respeitadas e a
violência continuou. Isso destaca os desafios e limitações da diplomacia na resolução de
conflitos internacionais, especialmente em situações em que há uma grande desconfiança
e hostilidade entre os lados envolvidos.
Em última análise, embora os Acordos de Minsk não tenham resolvido completamente o
conflito na Ucrânia, eles ainda foram um passo importante na direção certa. Eles
demonstraram que a diplomacia pode ser uma ferramenta eficaz para resolver conflitos
internacionais, especialmente quando liderada por uma coalizão internacional forte e
engajada.

Vladimir Kaganskyj stated that "the hermeneutic of the Soviet and post-Soviet space" still has not been developed in a satisfactorily and perhaps even preliminary way. The article is an introductory attempt to outline this complex, involving a large number of phenomena hermeneutics.
I look at the moment of disintegration of the Soviet empire and the process of post-communist transformation of former Soviet republics and – contextually – so. satellite countries from the perspective of space, it means the one that takes into account the approaches to space developed on the basis of the cultural return (the anthropology of place and space, geocriticism and geopoetics).
As far as an area and character of the diagnosis are concern the article is an analysis of the representations of space contained primarily in selected essays and reportages, dedicated to the area of the former USSR, as well as – contextually – to the so. satellite countries. I am particularly interested in representations of the cities – Moscow, Vilnius, Minsk, Lviv, Kiev - and interpretations of works by Jurij Andruchowycz, Artur Kinau, Marius Ivaškevičius, Svietlana Boym and others.
The starting point of my diagnosis focuses on the spatial context of the strengthening of the communist regime in the Soviet empire, it means on this, how the power was also the power over the space and how a kind of Soviet space was "produced." Then I take a look at the moment of disintegration of the empire, in which the Soviet system fully revealed its inertia and – according to the thesis of Karl Schlögl that a "system that is falling apart becomes a space" – turned into a post-Soviet space. The main part of the article is an attempt to outline the title hermeneutics, i.e. to read from a variety of representation of post-Soviet space – cultural, social and political complexities of post-communist transformation. I show lines of continuity between the Soviet and post-Soviet space, designated by the emblems of Soviet socialism still functioning in the latter one. Above all, however, I focus on the breaking points, indicating how the post-communist transformation affects the space, transforms the space, and how the space changing after the political turn – back – drives the transformation process.

In 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych stopped a planned EU association agreement. So, there emerged protests in Kyiv as a reaction to this decision. Moreover, the civil unrest in Euromaidan caused the fall of the government and instability in Ukraine (Grytsenko 2013). Didier Burkhalter, the former chair of the OSCE, made a proposal to solve the Ukrainian crisis to the UNSC. And, the proposal includes an international contact group and a needs assessment mission for Ukraine (Bradley 2014). As a result of the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the circumstance got even worse. The conflict triggered Donbass region and it caused a war in Donbass (Salem 2014). So, the OSCE made a decision about the situation and it sent the first 100 observers of the SMM in 2014 (OSCE 2014). It didn't work well. And, the conflict continued until the I. Minsk protocol declared a ceasefire. This ceasefire was to be monitored by the SMM, according to provisions in it (Peacemaker 2014). However, the implementation of the ceasefire wasn't effective. So, the war escalated again until the package of measures was signed and the role of the SMM was reaffirmed to implement the Minsk Protocol in early 2015. Since then the conflict wasn't accelerated. However, violations of the ceasefire were emerging, and these violations are reported by the SMM. The mission is responsible to report on the security issues, facts about specific incidents, monitor for human rights, and if there emerged any limitations to the monitoring mission. The other aim is to increase dialogue to minimize conflict. Also, they should stay in contact with all authorities, NGOs, groups, and the local population (OSCE 2014).

Статья посвящена освещению функционирования колхозных рынков – одного из наименее изученных феноменов розничной торговли и экономической повседневности середины XX в. в СССР, которые легально работали в городах в обстановке практически полного огосударствления экономики – с позиций истории повседневности на примере города Минска.
"Соответствующие органы изучат этот вопрос" (колхозные рынки в повседневной жизни Минска в 1944–1953 годах) // Архівы і справаводства. – 2023. – № 2. – С. 92–100.

The article is devoted to the functioning of kolkhoz markets – one of the least studied phenomena of trade and economic everyday life in the middle of the 20th century in the USSR, which legally worked in cities in an environment of almost complete nationalization of the economy. The study is made from the perspective of the everyday life studies (Alltagsgeschichte) on the example of Minsk.
Monzul U. "The relevant authorities will study this issue" (kolkhoz markets in the everyday life of Minsk in 1944–1953)
"...Соответствующие органы изучат этот вопрос..." (колхозные рынки в повседневной жизни Минска в 1944-1953 годах)
In: Arkhivy i spravavodstva. 2023. No 2. P. 92–100.

בתי הספר התיכוניים באימפריה הרוסית היו במבט ראשון מוסדות משעממים להחריד: מסדרונות ארוכים ואפלוליים, משמעת נוקשה; שינון אינסופי של משוואות ומשפטים ביוונית ובלטינית. אבל מתחת לפני השטח, מאחורי גבם של המחנכים חמורי הסבר, שקקו חיי חברה פעילים: חבורות וחברויות, חוגי קריאה וקופות לעזרה הדדית, עיתונים בכתב יד שהביעו רעיונות ביקורתיים ולעגו למורים, ולפעמים אפילו חוגים מהפכניים נלהבים. שלא ברצונם של אנשי הממסד החינוכי האימפריאלי נעשו בתי הספר התיכוניים לסביבה שאפשר לגלות בה עולמות חדשים ולהשתנות מן הקצה אל הקצה.

במחצית השנייה של המאה התשע-עשרה באו בשערי בתי הספר גם תלמידים יהודים רבים. הגימנזיסטים מספר את סיפורם של תלמידים אלה: מקבלת ההחלטה ללמוד בבית ספר תיכון, דרך אתגרי הקבלה ללימודים וההתמדה בלמידה וכלה בהשפעותיו המעצבות של בית הספר, שרבים מבוגריו היו לאקטיביסטים יהודים, אנשי האינטליגנציה היהודית-רוסית. כך עוסק הגימנזיסטים בנושא שחשיבותו חורגת מדל"ת האמות של בתי הספר: הוא מראה כיצד ההשתלבות במערכות האימפריה, שהרחיקה לכאורה את הצעירים מהחברה היהודית, סללה בפועל נתיבות חדשים לאקטיביזם יהודי.

“Problems of Discipline” explores the social and cultural function of the state system of secondary education in the Russian empire’s north-western provinces in the second half of the nineteenth century. It shows how schools facilitated socialization into informal, yet non-radical forms of political and social activism, and demonstrates, furthermore, how ideas of civil activism and communal commitment, typical to the contemporary Russian critical public discourse, led to the creation of a distinctive Jewish student subculture which contributed, subsequently, to the emergence of a new socially committed Jewish-Russian elite. Thus “Problems of Discipline” suggests a new conceptualization of the emergence of local – Jewish and other – elites and, in a broader view, a new understanding of the modes of Russian imperial socialization.

Questo volume contiene i contributi italiani al XV Congresso Internazionale degli Slavisti (Minsk, 20-27 agosto 2013). Nel solco della migliore tradizione della slavistica italiana, i relatori presentano in diverse lingue un ampio ventaglio di tematiche che vanno dalla questione cirillo-metodiana alla riflessione critica su autori contemporanei. Pur nella diversità degli approcci disciplinari e metodologici, dalla paleografia all’analisi testuale, dalla comparativistica letteraria alla sociolinguistica, questi contributi mostrano che la slavistica italiana mantiene fede alle sue radici, sviluppando criticamente gli studi precedenti e aprendo nuove prospettive alla ricerca, mentre emerge una nuova generazione di studiosi. Come in passato, la slavistica italiana sta svolgendo un ruolo significativo non solo nelle relazioni culturali dell’Italia con i singoli paesi slavi, ma più complessivamente nell’orizzonte di un processo vasto e complesso di integrazione delle diverse culture europ...

Исследование посвящено пространственно-временным закономерностям до-ставки еды из сетевых ресторанов быстрого питания в городе Минске и прогнозированию количества заказов различными методами. Выполнена оценка прогноза, выявлены основные тренды. Установлено, что общее число заказов имеет положи-тельную динамику, а основные закономерности связаны с погодными условиями и выходными днями.

International scientific conference “Architectural heritage of I.G. Langbard and Modernity”, dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth of I.G. Langbard. Minsk, 6–7 October 2022 // Международная научная конференция «Архитектурное наследие И.Г. Лангбарда и современность», посвященная 140-й годовщине со дня рождения И.Г. Лангбарда.

Regarding the accelerated innovation in the 21st century, the article suggests modifying the spatial principles of Research Institutes as isolated institutions. The 21st century Research Institute should reflect the increasing levels of openness and security in modern information exchange methods. Thus, the Institute reveals invisible information processes in the physical urban environment, becoming the urban centre of innovation, a new workplace and leisure centre, as well as a catalyst for enhancing the city’s sustainability. The article analyses the historical paradigm of effective methods for introducing innovation to the urban environment, as well as modern socio-economic needs of innovative research institutes in the city. As a result, a unique organizational structure and functional programme of a new Research Institute are suggested. The Institute directly participates in enhancing the urban environment and forming a new lifestyle of the city dwellers. New spatial principles...