ABSTRACT
The traces of the Soviet past in Amjany have been vivid not only in the town's appearance and the controversies of urban life, but also in local memories. The development of shuttle trade in Amjany after the disintegration of the Soviet Union had its strong historical roots in Amjany's Soviet past when the border between two Soviet republics the LithSSR and BSSR did not exist and interactions between Belarusians and Lithuanians were extensive throughout the region. In the course of its complicated history Amjany was a part of at least five different state formations such as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, Poland, and the USSR. Although Amjany is located more than 200 km away from today's literal borderland between Belarus and Poland, the ethnic and social boundaries brought into life by the former dominance of Poland in the region still play a role in the cultural identity of Amjany people.
