Belarusian journalist Tadeusz Giczan has informed the public via Twitter that Belarusian History Museum removed the figures of Grand Dukes Vitaut and King of Poland Jogailo for being “too Polish”. It is another attempt to vanish the history of our country in Belarus because of the military cooperation between Russia and Belarus.
Jogaila, later Władysław II Jagiełło was King of Poland between 1386 and 1434. Vytautas, also known as Vytautas the Great, was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revered as a national hero and was an important figure in the national rebirth in the 19th century.
The personal union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (converted in 1569 with the Treaty of Lublin into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) is the reason for the common appellation “Poland–Lithuania” in discussions about the area from the Late Middle Ages onward.
Well, it was only a matter of time. Belarusian History Museum removed the figures of grand dukes Vitaut and Jogailo for being “too Polish”. Also, the exposition devoted to szlachta and the Polish-Lithuanian part of Belarusian history will soon be replaced by the Russian Empire. pic.twitter.com/MDCob6mems
— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) July 18, 2022
According to the information given by Belsat TV, the changes in the museum are not supposed to end there and the management of the institution intends to remove the exhibition devoted to the Polish nobility and replace it with the exhibition devoted to the Russian Empire. Now, the exhibition presents Kreva Castle, a major fortified residence of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.