On May 7, the Free Belarus Museum will host a presentation of the Belarusian translation of the book “Under the Red Star and the Swastika: Baranovichi Region in 1939–1944. Western Belarus under German and Soviet Occupation“.
The guest of the evening will be the author — Alaksandr Brakel, a German historian and political scientist specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe.
The book explores the everyday life of people in the Baranovichi region during one of the most dramatic periods of the 20th century — under Soviet and Nazi occupations. Drawing on documents from Belarusian, German, and Polish archives, the author demonstrates how two totalitarian regimes, despite their differing ideologies, brought violence, terror, and mass crimes against civilians.
This is a fundamental study that significantly enriches Belarusian historical scholarship. The publication includes dozens of documents and photographs, many of which are published for the first time.
📍 When: May 7, 18:00–19:30
📍 Where: Free Belarus Museum
We invite you to join the discussion on history, memory, and the experience of living between two totalitarian regimes.
