When: Thursday, 31. March 2011 14.00
Where: Vilnius
Host: The Belarusian Human Rights House
Contact: (+370 671 62014)
Famous Belarusian public figures are among the authors, including a well-known painter Aliaksei Marachkin, United Civic Party leader Anatol Liabedzka, journalist Symon Pechanko, youth activists and leaders Andrei Baranau, Volha Kuzmich, Uladzimir Mikalayeu, Ales Kalita, Franak Viačorka, Anton Kalinouski, Katsiaryna Halitskaya, and Illia Bohdan. With detailed comments accompanying their diaries, the book is a reliable source of information giving an idea about specific events and people.
The introduction to the edition was prepared by the Viasna human rights activist, writer and literary critic Ales Bialiatski, who notes: "The essay is enriched in humor, apt details, similes and allusions. The author’s positive attitude is in a clash with the state machine of repression and indifference, creating an unpredictable situation of absurdity, something felt by both the authors and power-performers e.g. policemen, guards, judges, and the whole Belarusian society. The entire epoch is reflected by these memoirs. The era of heroes and nobodies, where the victims are indeed heroes, and executioners are potential victims of time".
