On my last day in Belarus before leaving, we visited Polotsk and Vitebsk, near the Russian border. It was a very full day. Unfortunately, due to a hard drive incident, my pictures of this day are lost. Peter Lapo and I were driven by a young man to Polotsk.… Read the rest
The next day we went to the National Memorial Complex at Khatyn.?? This memorial is the sites of the formed village of Khatyn, razed to the ground in the spring 1943, and its inhabitants burned to death.?? It is not to be confused with Katyn, the forest at which the bodies of 22,000 Polish offices and civilians, taken in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, were shot and buried by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD.??… Read the rest
Friday, July 3, is Independence Day in Belarus.??? We attempted to see the parade of tanks and other military vehicles and to hear Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus.?? However, we were turned back at a security checkpoint because of my knapsack.??… Read the rest
Fortunately, limesurvey access returned the following morning. We set up 10 accounts, went the computer lab at the Belarusian State University Fundamental Library, and were ready to go. July 3 marks Independence Day in Belarus, the day that Soviet troops liberated Minsk from the Nazis some 65 years ago.… Read the rest
In the evening, Piotr Lapo and I attended ballet performances of Carmina Burana and a Carmen Suite at the National Academic Great Opera and Ballet Theatre.? The building has just been reconstructed, and it is red and gold inside, with excellent acoustics.???… Read the rest
On Tuesday, June 30, there were two presentations. The first was at the National Library of the Republic of Belarus on ?Library Assessment in the US: Methods and Tools,? and the audience was the staff of the National Library. The National Library was founded on September 15, 1922, originally as the Belarusian State and University Library.… Read the rest
