On March 25. 1918. a Council of Congress proclaimed the independence of the Bielarusian Democratic Republic. The heroic declaration of independence by representatives of the people of Bielarus was soon followed by brutal fighting and eventual occupation by the Red Army. and since that time. the Bielarusian people have had to bear the cruel yoke of Communist tyranny. In 1929. the forced collectivization of agriculture was accompanied by the arrest and deportation of 1.5 million Blelarusian peasants. The terror tactics. mass arrests. shootings. and deportations continued into the 1930s. In 193031 many intellectuals were arrested. in 193334 all the Bielarusian members of the Polish Parliament were arrested. and in 193637 over 90 poets. writers. composers. dramatists. artists. and professors were arrested and many were shot. Even becoming a member of the Communist Party was not enough to spare Bielarusians from Stalins barbarism.
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deportations deportation