Is Belarus erasing traces of Polish heritage? Historic sites may lose their protected status

Is Belarus erasing traces of Polish identity? Our eastern neighbour may be about to embark on the next stage of purging the country of artefacts associated with Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. According to *Nasza Niwa*, local authorities have been instructed to prepare the documentation required to remove historic sites from the national register. In the Kleck district, seven properties have been included on the list, amongst them former Polish manor houses and palaces.

Where do these traces of Polish heritage in Belarus come from?

The presence of Polish and Polish-Lithuanian historic monuments in what is now Belarus is the result of these lands’ centuries-long history and subsequent border changes. For centuries, a significant part of what is now Belarus belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and from 1569 onwards to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Following the Partitions, these lands became part of the Russian Empire; however, the Polish and Lithuanian nobility retained their estates, manors, palaces, churches and parks there. After the First World War, part of western Belarus became part of the Second Polish Republic under the terms of the Treaty of Riga of 1921. Following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, the border was shifted westwards once again, and most of the territory was incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. This division was retained after 1945 and, in 1991, became the official border of independent Belarus. The former residences of the Radziwiłł, Wojnillowicz, Jaleński and Czarnocki families are now historic monuments situated outside Poland’s borders, even though they were built within the cultural sphere of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Seven historic monuments are set to be removed from the register

According to findings by the Belarusian website ‘Nasza Niwa’, the instruction to draw up a list of historic monuments to be removed from the register was issued by Aleksander Ilijaszewicz, deputy chairman of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee. The document has been forwarded to district and municipal authorities, which are to prepare the necessary documentation to revoke the protected status of the selected sites. The letter referred to decisions by the Council of Ministers concerning the removal of certain immovable historical and cultural assets. In the Kleck district alone, seven historic monuments have been identified for removal, including two Category 2 sites, recognised as assets of national importance.

Radziwiłłmonty: an 18th-century wooden palace

The most valuable property on the list is Radziwiłłmonty, now the village of Czerwonaja Zorka. The Radziwiłł wooden palace was built in the 1780s to a design by the Italian architect Carlo Spampani. This Classicist residence belonged to one of the most prominent families of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The palace was part of an extensive manor and park complex, of which other historical elements have also survived. In 2021, several 19th-century buildings there were demolished, and 52 trees were removed from the park. Now the palace itself may lose its state protection, which does not bode well for its future. Its condition is already worse than disastrous.

Traces of Polish heritage in the Kuncowszczyzna region

The second Category 2 listed monument is the remains of the Wojnillowicz Manor in Kuncowszczyzna. These are the relics of a former landed estate, serving as a reminder of the role played by the Polish-speaking nobility in the region’s history. The list also includes the estates of the Jeleński family in Tucza, the Wendorf family in Halinka, the Czarnocki family in Liacjaszyn and the Łabocki family in Ciasnówka. The surviving fragments of these estates are now considerably more modest than the former residences, yet they allow us to reconstruct the scale of Polish settlement and its links with the culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the case of Halinka, the proximity of other historic sites, including a listed church, is particularly significant.

The windmill in Szajki has already collapsed

The seventh site on the list is a wooden tent-type windmill in Szajki. The monument had been under state protection since 1987, but in July 2025 it collapsed due to its very poor structural condition. According to *Nasza Niwa*, no effective protective measures had been carried out previously. The case of the windmill clearly illustrates a problem that may affect other structures. If a historic monument deteriorates over the years and is later deemed too damaged to be restored, the withdrawal of its protected status may seal its fate.

Traces of Polish heritage in Belarus under pressure

There are nine manor house and park complexes in the Kleck district, and six of them are set to lose their protected status. This would mean the loss of protection for around two-thirds of this type of heritage in a single district. At the same time, the authorities are retaining protection for mass graves and monuments to Soviet soldiers, seven religious buildings and two archaeological sites. This selection of sites is striking, as the majority of the monuments earmarked for removal are associated with former Polish noble estates. This is hardly a coincidence.

A history that may disappear

Belarusian regulations allow a site to be removed from the register if it has lost its historical value or has been damaged to such an extent that scientific restoration is impossible. According to *Nasza Niwa*, such actions must be viewed in the context of the historical policy pursued by the authorities following the political crisis of 2020. A narrative centred on Russia is playing an increasingly prominent role, whilst the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the local nobility and Catholicism is often portrayed as an expression of ‘Polishness’. In 2022, Alexander Lukashenko spoke of an excess of portraits of Polish and Lithuanian nobility in Belarusian buildings. In the years that followed, commemorations of the 1863 insurgents and artefacts associated with Tadeusz Kościuszko and Konstanty Kalinowski also began to disappear from public spaces. Removing protected status from further manor houses and palaces may therefore pave the way for their further destruction and irretrievable loss.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of sites associated with Polish and Polish-Lithuanian heritage have survived in what is now Belarus: palaces, manor houses, churches, cemeteries, chapels, parks, municipal buildings and memorial sites. However, it is impossible to determine their exact number, as Belarusian registers do not include a category for ‘Polish historical monuments’.

Source: dworypogranicza.pl, nashaniva.com

See also:Architecture | Recommended |Historic monuments|History|Villas and mansions

Here is a selection of Polish historical sites in Belarus: