Famous Belarusians Told About Yuri Felshtinsky's Book
- radzina
- 20.01.2026, 10:08
An American historian destroys popular myths about Belarusians.
Warsaw has hosted the presentation of the book by the famous American writer Yuri Felshtinsky "Natallia Radzina's Belarus. Journalist vs. Dictator." The Andrzej Wajda Center, where the event was held on January 16, was full.
"Radyo Racyja" quotes comments of the meeting participants.
Yuri Felshtinsky spoke about the importance of Belarus for Europe and the world:
- It is the Russian reader, like me, who at first did not understand the meaning of Belarus. I hope that after reading this, the collective reader will realize how important an independent Belarus is for security and peace in Europe. This, as it seems to me, is the most important thing, that the key to the security of Europe is in Belarus. And the one who controls Belarus, controls security in Europe.
The chief editor of Charter97.org Natallia Radzina considers Yuri Felshtinsky's book a textbook on the modern history of Belarus:
- Very few books have been written about modern Belarus, not much is said about the true Belarusian history, about the struggle of Belarusians for freedom. Now a myth is created that Belarusians rose up against dictatorship only in 2020.
This book is about the fact that Belarusians have been fighting against dictator Lukashenko for more than 30 years, since he came to power. And that's why I am very grateful to Yuri Felshtinsky for writing this book, thanks to which we could remember the main events of Belarus' struggle for freedom since 1996.
Natallia Radzina also spoke about the role of independent journalism in exile:
- Belarusian journalism can be found only in exile, there is no it inside the country today. That's why the Belarusian society needs independent mass media very much. I believe that the role of the Belarusian independent media has only increased, so it is necessary to support those media that work from abroad today, to increase assistance for them.
"Natalia's fate is very similar to mine, the fate of our generation born in the 70s. We really came to Belarusianness through books that revealed the truth about the country we found ourselves in, revealed the history of the country we aspired to and continue to aspire to. This book is about the fate of our generation", - said former political prisoner Polina Sharendo-Panasiuk.
"I am very glad that I came to this event, to the presentation of the book about the leader of the "Charter" Natallia Radzina. People will recognize a part of our modern history that was unknown. People just lived and didn't know their heroes or neighbors, they didn't even know who laid down their lives in the struggle for their will, for the freedom of the country", - said activist Taisia Kabanchuk.
"For me, these are people I've known for more than 20 years. I've known Natalia since the late '90s. This is for me a moment of my life, my history", - says one of the founders of the movement "Zubr" and the organization "Krai", a former Belarusian volunteer in the war in Ukraine Vadim Kabanchuk.
"The presentation of a new book about the modern history of Belarus is a rare phenomenon. There are practically no books about political history, especially those written in the form of journalistic biography or political topics. I was motivated simply by the fact that Natalia and I studied at the same school. I am from Kobrin, and she is from Kobrin. My father served in the same unit as Natalya's father. I was in the third grade, and she went to the first. We walked the same corridors, but we didn't know it. I didn't find out until about 20 or 30 years later when I started reading her biography. I think it's an interesting move when a Russian historian living in America writes a book about Belarus", - said journalist of "Belsat" TV channel Sergei Pelesa.
"I'm here for the simplest and most obvious reason: Natalia is my friend. We've known each other since the 90s, worked together, were in prison together, so here - no options. This book, in my opinion, is intended for all those Belarusians who did not know what was happening in the country. This book is for the Belarusians who, excuse me, slept on the couch for ten years and opened their eyes only in the 20th year", - says journalist Irina Khalip.
"This book can become a key that will unite us, all Belarusians. And there are many of us - those who are trying to do something, to make life easier for Belarusians both here and in our country, to unite those who have left, to create an initiative that will work for the benefit of Belarus," - says three-time Olympic medalist, world and European champion in swimming Alexandra Gerasimenya.