March 25, 2024, saw a festive event in Bremen on the occasion of the Day of Freedom, an important national holiday of the Belarusians celebrated all across the world. To mark this event,the Bremen Trade Union House opened an exhibition dedicated to Ales Bialiatskyi, a prominent Belarusian defender of human rights, writer, and Nobel Prize winner.
The event was organized by the Salidarnast e.V. in cooperation with the Association of Belarusians in Germany “Razam”. It was dedicated to the anniversary of the Belarusians’ first national state, the People’s Republic of Belarus, whose independence was proclaimed 106 years ago.
Over 50 participants from Bremen and Berlin attended the event. In her welcoming address, the leader of Salidarnast e.V. Lizaveta Merliak expressed gratitude to German labour unions for providing floor space to house the exhibition and for their support of Belarusians who were forced to leave their motherland.
Siarhei Drazdouski, Director of the “Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities”, gave the guests the story of Ales Bialiatski’s life and struggle for Belarusians’ rights; Ales is currently in prison, serving his 10-year term.
The second part of the event was dedicated to the presentation of the project “Revival of the Reforms Package for Belarus” which had been developed by several parties and associations. To mark the Day of Freedom, they produced an interactive map commemorating the 106 years of the People’s Republic of Belarus. The presentation was made by Lizaveta Merliak.
The participants received T-shirts with Ales Bialiatsky’s picture and printed copies of the BNR interactive map. A nice feature of the event was the specially baked red-white-red cake which became the symbol of the celebration. In conclusion of the festivities, the participants sang “The Riding Knights”, their unofficial anthem with lyrics written by Maksim Bagdanovich in 1916.
The exhibition dedicated to the Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize winner will be open in the TU House for two weeks with free admittance to all who wish to see it. The display is in English, all who are interested are welcome.