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Analyzing the construction of a national identity often relies on historical references, especially in the teaching of the nation’s history in schools. Belarus stands apart owing to the referents retained for narratives about a post-Soviet national identity. One of the very few countries emerging from the breakup of the USSR that has revived the Soviet legacy and interpretation of history, Belarus did so in the mid-1990s following a critical appraisal of the past made during the perestroika. The historical narrative about a Belarusian identity now relies on significant references to the Great Patriotic War—as in the Soviet narrative. These references weave a sense of identity and legitimate the contemporary sociopolitical system. Belarus is the only former Soviet Socialist Republic that has returned so directly, head-on, to its Soviet legacy, which has as its major glorious component victory during World War Two. The ruling elite exploits this narrative to legitimize the regime while erasing or minimizing a nationalist heritage that rebuts the Soviet legacy, refuses to see World War Two as a sacred event, and draws attention to other historical events and victories.