In the first part of the series, the author of the book "Unknown Minsk.

The story of the disappearance"

tells about the historical center of Minsk, about his childhood there and about the civilization belonging to one of the oldest cities of Belarus.

A fragment of the conversation between the host

and Sergey Ablameik:

- Where does your passion for old Minsk come from?

I am also a Myanchuk and share your love and dreams to see the Old Town restored.

But where are the beginnings of your feelings?

- There are two sources of everything I wrote about Minsk.

One source is family.

It is true that you and I were born in Minsk and we love it.

But for me, historical Minsk, which used to exist, at least that part of it that remained after the war - Nemiga, was the place of my childhood.

Before the war, my mother's family lived on Internatsionalnaya street, in the yard opposite today's "Peramoga" cinema, and after that they ended up on Ratamska street (now Melnikaite) in the Rakaivskyi suburb, which is also not far from the historical center and the Old Town.

In my childhood, my parents worked a lot, and my grandmother took care of me.

Many of her friends lived in Nemiza.

Until I was 10-12 years old, I often went there with my grandmother.

We spent time visiting, I played with the grandchildren and granddaughters of my grandmother's friends.

That's why I have a wonderful memory of the Niemis courtyards with wooden galleries on the first and second floors, sometimes glazed.

I remember the sounds, smells, taste of food and sweets.

My grandmother's friends were mostly Jewish.

By the way, we also shared a house with a Jewish family on Ratamska Street, we had a common kitchen and shared food.

One day, my great-grandmother Marya cooked for the whole house, and the other day, my aunt Sima, who worked as a butcher at the Jubilee Market on Ratamskaya Street.

That's why we always had meat at home.

So I have been involved with Jewish cuisine in the Old Town since childhood.

It is also important that the family loved this part of the city.

My grandmother was born and raised there, when she was little she sold drinking water on the Low Market to help her family and earn money for children's sweets.

When Nyamiga began to be demolished, my grandmother took me to the bridge from Svoboda Square to the Park highway, and we watched as the heavy equipment demolished the left, odd side of our old street.

We came there for many days.

Demolition started from the former Schoolyard, the crane loosened the cast-iron "baba" and hit the old walls.

Grandma was crying.

Adults at home said that there were also protests against demolition, there were publications in newspapers.

That's why I knew from childhood that a bad thing was done then.

- So, you felt those blows of "baba" somewhere in your heart?

- Yes.

It was pretty wild.

I was also curious, but since my grandmother was crying, I understood that something was wrong.

By the way, I dedicated the book to the memory of my grandmother, there is her pre-war photo, where our entire family on my mother's side was taken.

And the second motive that pushed me to take up the story of the destruction of the Old Town is the motive of the Belarusian intellectual.

I had a cultural goal: to show that Minsk was not what most people imagine it to be today.

This goal was born in the 80s, when you and I joined informal youth structures.

"Talaka" defended the remnants of old Minsk.

Then the cultural value of old stones became clear.

It is important to understand that Minsk was not as it was when the joint-stock company of officials of the city executive committee "Minsk Heritage" began to restore it.

In my opinion, they started to turn Minsk into a Russian provincial town with tin-roofed houses and other decorative elements.

Here a great methodological and ideological problem manifested itself: how to restore Minsk - Russian or pre-Russian times.

Until the end of the 18th century, we were not part of Russia.

And the question of "how to restore" is a purely ideological matter.

For example, what do we want to see the Church of the Holy Spirit - renaissance or twice rebuilt in the 19th century in the authentic Russian style.

You can also listen to conversations about history on all popular

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Was there an Old Town in Minsk and who built it

by Radio Svaboda

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Download and read the books of "Libraries of Freedom" for free:

• Siarhei Ablameyka.

  Unknown Minsk.

  The story of the disappearance.

  The first book.

  2021 (PDF) (EPUB)

• Siarhei Ablameyka.

  Unknown Minsk.

  The story of the disappearance.

  The second book.

  2021 (PDF) (EPUB)

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• Siarhei Ablameyka

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  ablameikos@rferl.org

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