95th birth anniversary of Pyotr Masherov

By Vestnik Kavkaza

On February 13th the 95th anniversary of the birth of the state and public figure of Belarus, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus P. M. Masherov was marked. Masherov was not elected to be a leader, he became it long before taking the position of First Secretary. When he headed Belarusian Soviet Republic in 1965, Masherov became a provider of Soviet plans on turning the small republic from agricultural to industrial. The urbanization policy made Minsk one of the most rapidly growing cities of the planet. In 15 years of Masherov’s administration the republic made a great economic breakthrough in its development, - Belarus political scientist Dmitry Bilkunets writes in his blog.

“Ask any Belarusian, no matter how old, what his education or  what his social status is - ask him who Masherov is. Any person to whom you will talk will immediately reply: "Masherov is a great leader of the Belarusian nation, the Belarusian state." The Belarusian people have long existed, but the Belarusian nation is composed now, and we are witnesses to this process,” Oksana Solopova, Deputy Dean of the History Department of Moscow State University, says. “And at this moment, there is a need for some leaders, some symbols of this nation. Masherov, no doubt, was one of these leaders. It did not matter that he lived in the period of socialism, or in any other period. Never mind that he had a direct and immediate relationship to certain political forces. This all goes by the wayside. The magnetism of the individual, the commitment to his ideals, devotion to his country, love for Belarus, - all of this makes him a leader for today's Belarusians.”

“If you look at the face of this man, it says everything. This is a real good man who has a lot in his heart,” Petr Klimuk, astronaut, says. “I was born in the Brest region in 1942, when Pyotr Mironovich Masherov already defended our homeland. I met this remarkable man, communicated with him, and not just talked to him but made friends with him.”

The National-Cultural Autonomy “Belarusians of Moscow” published a book by Masherov’s 95th birth anniversary, and they decided to put together in this book all the memories of his close associates, the people he worked with, the people who were with him all these years. “The book has turned out so impressive in content, by design, the quality of publications, that I think it will certainly be of interest to every citizen of Belarus, if every citizen of Belarus has a possibility to get it, and this will be a wonderful event,” Elena Masherova, daughter of Pyotr Masherov, says.