1937 mass execution of Belarusians
In October 1937, there was a mass extermination of Belarusian writers, artists and statespeople by the Soviet Union occupying authorities. This event marked the peak of the Great Purge and repressions of Belarusians in the Soviet-controlled area of eastern Belarus.
More than 100 notable persons were executed, most of them on the night of the 29th–30 October 1937. Their innocence was later admitted by the Soviet Union after Joseph Stalin's death.
History[]
On 7 September 1937 Joseph Stalin signed a list of persons to be judged by a Soviet Military commission. The list was also signed by Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Klim Voroshilov and Nikolay Yezhov. There were trials related to persons from the Belarusian SSR and these were given in a different list dated 15 September 1937 and signed by Stalin, Molotov and the senior state security official . The list of people from the Belarusian SSR sentenced to be executed included 103 persons, and six more persons who were sentenced to ten or more years in concentration camps.
The initial list was extended by the NKVD of the Belarusian SSR. People added to the list by the NKVD of Belarus are marked with an asterisk (*) in the list below. The executions took place in the Minsk internal NKVD prison (known as the Amerikanka). Journalist Leanid Marakoŭ alleged that between 3 March 1937 and 22 May 1938, over 100,000 people fell victims of repressions by the Soviet authorities.
List of executed persons[]
- , head of primary education department of the Communist Party of Byelorussia
- , lecturer and pedagogue
- , head of construction department at the Soviet of People's Commissars (government) of Belarus
- , senior official at the People's Commissariate for Education
- Jakaŭ Branštejn, literary critic
- , government official
- , journalist
- , people's commisar (minister) for education of Belarus
- Anatol Volny, artist
- Płaton Hałavač, writer
- , deputy education minister of Belarus
- , senior Communist Party official
- Anani Dziakaŭ, president of the Belarusian State University in 1934-1935
- Aleś Dudar, poet
- * , critic and writer
- , teacher
- , junior professor at Vitsebsk Veterinarian Institute
- , writer
- , agriculture journalist from Vitsebsk
- , statesman, Communist Party official
- , writer
- , Labour Union leader
- , senior official at the People's Commisariate for Light Industry of Belarus
- * , statesman, pedagogue
- , veterinarian
- , poet
- , head of copyright department at the Union of Writers of Belarus
- Moyshe Kulbak, Yiddish language writer
- , statesman, pedagogue, journalist
- , Communist Party official
- , senior agriculture official
- , literature critic
- , literature critic
- , justice minister of Belarus
- , poet
- , student
- , veterinarian, scientist
- , Communist Party of Byelorussia official
- , senior official at the People's Commisariate of Trade
- Valery Marakoŭ, poet
- , geography scientist
- , Communist Party of Byelorussia official
- , advisor at the government of Belarus
- , factory director, ministry official
- , poet
- , veterinarian
- , transport and utilities adviser at the government of Belarus
- , poet
- , agriculture chemistry scientist
- , writer, social activist
- , university professor
- , university professor
- , government official
- , government official
- , writer
- , sovkhoz director
- , official at the education ministry
- , biologist
- , poet
- , People's Commissar for sovkhozy of Belarus
- , physicist
- , government official
- , poet
- , literature critic
- , education minister
- Michaś Čarot, poet
- , literature critic
- , journalist
- , Yiddish language poet
- , official at the Dniapro-Dzvina river steamboats navigation in Homel
References[]
![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (December 2017) |
Sources[]
- Маракоў Л. Ахвяры і карнікі. Мн.: Зміцер Колас, 2007 г. ISBN 978-985-6783-38-1
- «Так погибали поэты»/Выбраныя творы. Мн.: Кнігазбор, 2007 г. ISBN 985-6824-59-1
See also[]
External links[]
- Political and cultural purges
- Political repression in the Soviet Union
- NKVD
- 1937 in the Soviet Union
- 1937 in Belarus
- Massacres in Belarus