Pozharskii
and Minin are Russian heroes from 1612, the end of Polish occupation. Such heroes in fact, that the statue above is in front of St. Basil's. Today was the first Day of People's Unity, marked by swastikas and neo-Nazis. Patriotism and nationalism are part and parcel of Russian life, as Stalin and Putin, amongst others have realised, but this aggressively negative form, with its basis in the far, almost legendary past, echoes the tribalist tendencies of the more southern Slavs, the effects of which we saw as Yugoslavia collapsed. This holiday is even more concerning given the recent rash of anti-Polish sentiment and violence in the Russian capital.
posted by lukeski at 9:51 pm
1 Comments:
I can't find any references now, so maybe I dreamt this, but I've got a feeling that it was celebrated in Belarus too, or Lukashenka or the Orthodox church there want it to be, which is rather odd seeing as Poland and Belarus were then in union. Poor old Belarusians, but if they will know so little of their own history...
Yes, neo-Nazis are all the rage in Moscow, and in Petersburg too, much more so than was recently the case, a friend who's just been there tells me. Too depressing. Typical Russia, though, looking for someone to blame for their own ills as always. Ever the victims.
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