Belsat TV premiere: 'Syarozha' – documentary about Belarusian in Poland


The documentary by Jerzy Kalina tells the story of a Belarusian entrepreneur who was born in Poland and now lives here.

Syarhei ‘Syarozha’ Nichyparuk, the main character of the film, is a resident of the village of Budy near Bialowieza forest. He was a member of the Communist party, but later finished an Orthodox school of theology.

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His own story bears a strong resemblance to the fate of the Belarusian Orthodox minority inhabiting the eastern part of Podlaskie province.

‘Syarozha’,  film set.  Phot. belsat.eu

For centuries Syarhei’s ancestors were agricultural people in a small poor village, they prayed in Orthodox churches, took every change of power with apprehension, but at the same time they were always trying to adapt to new authorities and conditions.

After the Second World war members of the Polish anti-Communist undeground took revenge on dozens of Belarusians for their loyalty to the Soviet regime. A number of pogroms took place in Belarusian villages in Podlasie, 79 people were killed. In dread of further acts of vengeance, the Belarusian minority hushed up murders.

17 victims were natives of the village of Zalyashany, where Syarhei Nichyparuk was born. Some of his relatives were killed in pogroms. When he was young, he became a committed Communist. But in the 70s he threw his party membership card away and entered Warsaw Orthodox seminary. Later, during martial law in Poland, he took the side of those who fought for independence and headed a local unit of ‘Solidarity’, the undeground anti-Communist trade union. Due to its efforts, Poland broke free of the pro-Soviet authorities in 1989.

Падчас здымкаў фільма «Сярожа». Фота belsat.eu
‘Syarozha’, film set.  phot. belsat.eu

After the collapse of the Communist regime in Poland, Syarhei started his own business.

‘Syarozha’, film set. Phot. belsat.eu

Syarhei Nichyparuk helped to build a conventual house his village. And now where his daughter,  nun Elizaveta, prays for the repose of its residents killed in 1946…

Belsat.eu

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