The 70th anniversary of the tragic Stalinist reprisals in Belarus, which had their highlight in 1937, has been celebrated over these days. It was a veritable genocide organised by the Soviet totalitarian regime and focussed on the elite of the Belarusian nation: men of culture and science, priests from all confessions and patriots, as well as simple citizens. Within 15 months, between August 1937 and December 1938, over 10 thousand people were shot in Belarus. In just one night, between 29th and 30th October 1937, and in Minsk alone, the NKVD officers (the secret services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) shot over 100 people. In memory of this painful anniversary, a city committee planned a Day in Memory of the Stalinist Genocide for 29th October 2007. But throughout the year the Christian Churches of Belarus have planned several pastoral initiatives. The Greek-Catholics have commemorated the victims of the Stalinist genocide during the Yearly Pilgrimage to Polatsk on 15th July. On that occasion, the apostolic visitor of the Belarusan Greek-Catholic Church, the archimandrite Sergius Gajek, said for the victims of the genocide: "we wish to ask for their souls the gift of eternal rest and for us the grace of being the brave witnesses of Christ Resurrected in Belarus". (continued)
