Viktar Marcinovich presented a scientific book in Vilnius, based on his family history
At the beginning of 2026, writer Viktar Marcinovich's book "Belarus in Autoethnographic Narratives. The Art of Mercy Against Oblivion" was published in Great Britain. The book presentation took place on January 15 in Vilnius, Radio Svaboda reports .
"I don't even know the print run myself yet. I have one copy in hand," Viktar Marcinovich said after the presentation, as he signed his earlier books for fans of his work. A whole hall gathered for them at the Imperial hotel in Vilnius.
Belarusians know Viktar Marcinovich as the author of several novels, but this time he chose a different genre.
"This is not fiction and not non-fiction, it's a monograph, a scientific book. But by 'scientific' I don't mean what is generally accepted. By education, I am an art historian and decided to use my knowledge of art in a story about home, family, country, its history, which includes terror, victims, and mercy," Marcinovich said at the presentation.
The family history told by the author is tragic and captivating at the same time. It begins with nine-year-old Vitya finding an object behind the stove in his grandmother's house in the village of Barbarova near Hlusk, which, as it turned out, was connected to the fate of his great-grandfather Amelyan Marcinovich. At first, his grandmother told her grandson nothing about this find or about his great-grandfather.
But five years later, Viktar saw a photograph dated 1911 in the family archive. It showed four soldiers in neat uniforms and polished boots. Among them was his great-grandfather Amelyan Marcinovich.
Great-grandfather, Amelyan Marcinovich (left)
"The 157th regiment of the imperial army. Look, it's indicated on the epaulet," the writer drew attention to an important detail during the presentation, which he accompanied with slides of paintings and family photos.
Now Viktar Marcinovich knows that the regiment in which his great-grandfather served was stationed in the Babruysk fortress. But in his youth, he again heard a resolute "You don't need to know anything!" from his grandmother.
It often becomes clear only in adulthood why elders hide family stories from children. It turned out that the grandfather's hunting rifle, found behind the stove, almost became a weapon for killing the man through whom great-grandfather Amelyan Marcinovich died. The author also tells how this happened in his book.
The story refers to 1943. Nazi punitive forces burst into the village and ordered a teenager to name local residents connected with the partisans. The boy got scared and randomly named five people, including Amelyan Marcinovich. The same day, they were all taken to Hlusk, to the local SD, and taken hostage.
The villagers, gathering courage, went to Hlusk to the Germans to plead for their fellow villagers, asserting that they were innocent. According to recollections, one German officer reportedly even sympathized but merely spread his hands: "What can you do — yours have already been shot," Marcinovich recounted at the presentation.
This story concluded in 1963. That year, after serving 15 years of punishment for treason, the same person returned from the camp whom the punitive forces had forced to incriminate five villagers in 1943, including Amelyan Marcinovich. At this moment, Viktar's grandfather took a rifle from its hiding place and was about to leave, but his grandmother stopped him.
Grandfather was a veteran, and the word "I'll kill" meant he was really ready to do it. But grandmother screamed:
"You grew up without a father yourself — and you want to leave your children orphans? I won't let you."
Art critic Viktar Marcinovich accompanies this family history in his book with reflections on the works of Renaissance artists — Raphael Santi and Botticelli, as well as contemporaries of the described events — Yudl Pen, his student Marc Chagall, and other prominent creators who enriched world culture not only with paintings but also with their own lives, experiences, thoughts, and emotions.
The book was published in English by Routledge (Oxford). It can be purchased on Amazon — the price is about 200 euros. The book can also be ordered for reading at the National Library of Lithuania.
In the near future, Viktar Marcinovich plans to publish a new fiction book — the novel "Hlybinya" (The Depth).
"This will be a novel about what we are all experiencing now," the author noted.
Viktar Marcinovich is a writer, journalist, and lecturer. Author of the books "Paranoia," "Studziony Vyraj" (The Chilly Migration), "Sphagnum," "Mova" (Language), "Vozera Radastsy" (Lake of Joy), "Revolution," "Night."
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