Dear friends, we congratulate you on Freedom Day with excellent news! The Testament of the Chairman of the Council of the BNR and other materials from the archive of M. Abramčyk have been recovered and transferred to the Francis Skaryna Library!
The Secretary of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile and the Board of Trustees of the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum in London are pleased to announce the transfer to the Library of part of the state archive of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, formerly in the possession of the late President of the Council of the BDR, Mikoła Abramčyk.
After the death of Mikoła Abramčyk in 1970, by decision of the Council of the BDR, the Council’s documents from his archive were to be transferred for safekeeping and research to the Francis Skaryna Library. However, until 2025 they remained outside the possession of the Council of the BDR.
Copy of the letter-testament of the Chairman of the Council of the BNR, Vasil Zakharka, dated 23 April 1943 (in French), concerning the transfer of the powers of Chairman of the Council to Mikola Abramchik, the appointment of Larisa Heniush as Secretary of the Presidium, as well as the transfer of the archives of the Council of the BNR to these individuals. It is now preserved in the Skaryna Library.
Now, following the restoration of the ownership rights of the Council of the BDR over these documents, it has been agreed that the Council transfers the archive of Mikoła Abramčyk to the Francis Skaryna Library for safekeeping and use until the completion of the historical mandate of the Council of the BDR in accordance with its Statute and the adoption of a joint decision on the future legal status of the archive. After a preliminary inventory, the archive will be made available to researchers in the near future.the archive will be made available to researchers in the near future.
