Saving Kurapaty: The Memorialisation of Victims of Political Repressions in Belarus as a Transitional Justice Mechanism

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the memorialisation of victims of political repressions as part of a transitional justice policy. By drawing on insights from memory studies, it reveals how such memorialisation practices can become a dynamic transitional justice mechanism developed by grassroots movements. The case study in focus is the arrangement of memorials to the victims of Stalinist repressions in Kurapaty near Minsk, Belarus, identifying societal actors participating in memorialisation practices and exploring their values. This study provides a more complex understanding of questions concerning transitional justice, memorialisation, and material traces of traumatic memory embodied in the memorials.