2 November 1939 saw one of the life-changing events in the history of Belarus. On this day, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR convened an extraordinary session to accept the request of the People's Assembly of Western Belarus to include Western Belarus into the USSR and unite it with the Byelorussian SSR.
Some 12 days later, on 14 November 1939, the law “On the incorporation of Western Belarus into the BSSR” was adopted at the extraordinary session of the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR. Thus, the territorial integrity of the republic was restored and the Belarusian people were reunited after 18 years of forced and very painful division in line with the terms of the Peace of Riga.
We have handpicked unique photos from BelTA's archive that show what price Belarus had to pay for its unity and explain why this unity is valued as a greatest asset today.
