Belarus bulldozes another Polish soldiers’ cemetery

August 25, BPN. Polish Armija Krajowa soldiers’ cemetery has been bulldozed in another act of vandalism near the village of Surkonty, Voranava district, Hrodna region, the unofficial Union of Poles in Belarus reported, citing eyewitnesses.

According to their accounts, police sealed off the area and stopped local residents from filming what was going on.

On July 1, the Polish foreign ministry expressed serious concern at desecration of Polish burial places in Belarus. According to Warsaw, these occurred mainly in the Hrodna region, where “some 550 burial sites exist with remains of Polish soldiers, insurgents fighting for Poland’s independence, defenders of Hrodna.”

Warsaw urged Minsk to immediately stop vandalism at cemeteries and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Attacks on Polish soldiers’ graves and memorials in Belarus have been reported since June. According to the Polish Consulate General in Hrodna, at least nine Polish memorial sites were ruined as of July 13.

Poland has demolished Soviet monuments as part of a decommunization campaign that does not affect burial sites.