“I feel kind of guilt for leaving. It is my country, obviously I love it a lot, but at this point in my life I understand I can do more for myself here than back there.”
Alesia Siuchykava, 25
“My parents came to New York in the 1950s, they were mostly political immigrants and they – as many others who followed them – understood what communism and Russian imperialism was about.”
Alla Orsa Romano, 71
“Once you have moved from one country to another you don’t want to experience it again – starting from zero is difficult, adjusting to a new life is hard.”
Iryna Shpindler, 34
“Right now New York is unfortunately more Belarus than my homeland is.”
Uladzimer Cialitsa, 41
“I’m proud that my people – my nation, having lived at the historical crossroads of extinction, has survived.”
Valancina Tryhubovich, 64
“If you were from Ukraine and I’d be from Belarus, we’d be talking about the same subjects, we’d have a very clear understanding of what we meant – the jokes, problems, …”
Vitaly Lapin, 38
“There’s no point for me to live in Belarus and lose years of my life, fighting the phantoms, trying to change the country. Change that is coming will be part of historical perspective.”
Youras Ziankovich, 33