Hrodna schoolchildren struggle to explain who Felix Dzerzhinsky was


The monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky is being renovated in Hrodna gymnasium No. 6, with the support of the local officials and the KGB. But schoolchildren do not seem to know who this person was.

The monument has been on the territory of the gymnasium since 1987 and was put there, probably, on another anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution. The bust of “Iron Felix” is made of bronze, it was not dismantled even in the 1990s.

Monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky. Photo – Vasil Mauchanau/Belsat

Now work on the reconstruction of the pedestal and the renovation of the bust itself goes under the patronage of not only the school’s directorate, but also the administration of the Leninsky district and the regional KGB administration. About a dozen workers are involved, and the monument is to be handed over this month.

According to the local official press, flowers are regularly placed at the monument. But when confronted with the question regarding Felix Dzerzhinsky, the local schoolchildren struggled to explain who that person really was..

Work in the school yard. Photo — Vasil Mauchanau

According to Tatsyana Makhnach, principal of gymnasium No. 6, the monument at the entrance is “a solid part of the education of patriotism, historical roots and civic responsibility among students.” The local history museum is already open in the gymnasium, but it will still be complemented by a special exhibition dedicated to Felix Edmundovich.

Name of Dzerzinsky is part of the gymnasium No 6 history. Photo Vasil Mauchanau – Belsat.

It is hardly worth linking the presence of the monument on the territory of the gymnasium with the will of the principal in the 80s or the KGB. There are several similar monuments erected in that era in Hrodna.

In the city it is the second memorial associated with the “Iron Felix”: another plaque can be found on the house, where he stayed in 1920, at the entrance to the regional executive committee..

Story and photo by Vasil Mauchanau.

TWITTER