Born on a day that never happened. The son of an “enemy of the people.” A coward who surrendered to the enemy. A Stalinist who violated the party charter. A traitor turned hero. The ideal of a leader. The man who united the nation. National hero. Partisan Marshal. Senior lieutenant of the Red Army. Hero of the Soviet Union. Hero of Socialist Labor. Seven-time holder of the Order of Lenin. As they say, there is a range of opinions and titles to suit every taste. This is a book about Pyotr Masherov, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, who ruled in Belarus for more than 15 years.