Dictatorship sign

The bronze clone of Iron Felix moved from Lubyanka to his homeland today in Minsk on the territory of the Military Academy of Belarus, the solemn opening of the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky will be held. The ceremony is dedicated to the day of the border guard. Representatives of the border troops and became the initiators of the installation of the monument.

The love of officers for the founder of the Cheka is caused by state reanimation of the image of the “communist saint” (as his colleagues called him), at the initiative of the authorities, which began in Belarus a few years ago. Born in Oshmyansky district (about an hour from Minsk), Iron Felix at the highest level was recognized as the “mind, honor and conscience” of the Belarusian special services. In the end of this, at the end of 2004, the Memorial Complex "Manor Dzerzhinovo" was opened in his family estate (shortly after that, a bust was installed in the center of Minsk, and his name was assigned to one of the capital's prospectus and the district center of the Minsk region). The opening ceremony, Alexander Lukashenko, noted that the figure of Dzerzhinsky, a model of service to the Motherland and the creator of the most powerful special services of the 20th century, in modern conditions, in general, "can unite all the special services of the CIS countries." And the head of the KGB Stepan Sukhorenko, continuing his thought, noticed that in general, "all the Chekists left one overcoat - the felix Edmundovich's greatcoat."

As the Gazeta was told in the press center of the State Committee of the Border Forces of Belarus, within three months of this year, border guards of the Minsk garrison made voluntary donations for the construction of the monument. As a result, 32 million 600 thousand Belarusian rubles (approximately 16 thousand US dollars) were raised. This money, according to the leadership of the border troops, was enough to “cloning” a bronze monument 3 meter 20 centimeters high, which, until 1991, crowned the Lubyansk Square of Moscow.

Although the Belarusian border wraps are not part of the special services, Dzerzhinsky is considered one of their founders. “He invested a huge amount of forces in strengthening and improving the border personnel,” said Alexander Pavlovsky, head of the State Committee for Border, the Monument to the Events of E great historical importance.

Belarusian human rights activists are of a different opinion. Thus, Oleg Gulak, Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Helsinsky Committee, called the construction of the monument "frank cynicism and mockery of the memory of millions of victims of a repressive machine, created by the best friend of all street children." According to him, "the fact of the installation of the monument to the founder of the Cheka, and even an exact copy of the monument on Lubyanka, is a sign of the final establishment of dictatorship in the Lubyanka."

Recall that in Moscow, the decision on the demolition of the Dzerzhinsky monument on Lubyanka was made by the metropolitan authorities on August 22, 1991, and in December last year, the Moscow City Public Commission on Monumental Art voted against the return of the statue to its former place.

05/25/2006 / Victor Yanin / Minsk, the material was published in the "newspaper" No. 88 dated 05/26/2006.