The Memorial to Roma Genocide Victims in Navasyady, Belarus: Shifting Meanings and Mnemonic Communities

Abstract

Abstract: This article investigates the story behind the memorial to Roma genocide victims in Navasyady, Belarus, which is marked by plaques and symbols from different epochs and commemorative traditions. After examining the official commemoration, from the first Soviet memorial "to the victims of fascism" in 1967 to the regional and national memory politics in post-Soviet Belarus, it focuses on the family commemoration at the site and the local responses to the family memorial erected in 1999. My analysis demonstrates the power of memorials to (re)shape social reality and reveals the relationship between the site of memory and three mnemonic communities—the survivor and her family, the village community and the local Roma community.