Фота: телеграм-канал Ксеніі Лебедзевай.
Christmas ornaments depicting Larysa Hienijuš, sold in the Minsk shop “Kalyadnaya Krama,” have been deemed “rehabilitation of Nazism.” This wording appears in a press release from the Minsk Prosecutor’s Office.
“During online monitoring, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Savetski District of Minsk discovered offers to purchase products associated with the rehabilitation of Nazism at one of the capital’s shops and demanded they be removed from sale. It was established that the shop publicly displayed and offered for purchase Christmas ornaments featuring Larysa Hienijuš,” the statement said.
Authorities emphasized that Larysa Hienijuš had been convicted by a ruling of the Supreme Court of the BSSR on 7 February 1949 under Articles 66 and 76 of the BSSR Criminal Code (1928 edition) for “treason” and “participation in an anti-Soviet organization.”
“During the Second World War she was in Czechoslovakia and participated in drafting an appeal by ‘Belarusians of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia’ to Adolf Hitler. Her activities were closely linked with Nazi propaganda on occupied Belarusian lands. The issue of Hienijuš’s rehabilitation has been raised repeatedly, yet the Supreme Court has found no grounds for it,” prosecutors stated.
The ornaments were produced by the shop’s parent organization.
The Deputy Prosecutor of the Savetski District issued a directive to the shop director demanding the removal of “violations” and the withdrawal of the items from sale under legislation on “preventing the rehabilitation of Nazism.”
The supervisory order has been fully executed, the press release noted.
At the instruction of the district prosecutor’s office, the police are conducting a pre-investigation check under Article 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The progress of the inquiry is under prosecutorial supervision.
Earlier it became known that police had opened a review into “Kalyadnaya Krama” on Koltsova Street after the shop released a series of Christmas ornaments featuring portraits of Belarusian writers and cultural figures, including Larysa Hienijuš. The ornament drew attention from propagandists Ksenia Lebedeva, Grigory Azarenok, and Olga Bondareva. As a result, the ornament with the poet’s portrait was removed from sale, and the shop announced a temporary pause in operations.
Later, Bondareva published an official reply from the Savetski District administration stating that Minsk City Executive Committee had received complaints alleging that the sale of ornaments featuring Hienijuš supposedly “rehabilitates Nazism.” The letter also noted that the police were conducting a review and would provide a legal assessment. It added that certain violations of a Council of Ministers decree had reportedly been identified at the shop and were corrected as of 21 November. The shop remains closed.