“Heroism, Tragedy, Courage”
The Museum for the Defence of the Brest Fortress
Alena Paškovič, Christian Ganzer
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The “Great Patriotic War” is an important point of reference in Belarus. The Brest Hero-Fortress Memorial assumes a central position in the mediation of a canonised view of history. Even today, official memory cultivates the image of the courageous Red Army soldiers who defended the fortress during the German attack on the Soviet Union for almost a month in 1941. Unpleasant topics such as captivity and genocide are completely suppressed in favour of the myth of masculinity and soldierly honour.
(Osteuropa 12/2010, pp. 81–96)