Pishchalauski Castle

Pishchalauski Castle
Pishchalauski Castle
Пішчалаўскі замак (Belarusian); Пищаловский замок (Russian)
Alternative names	Pischalauski Castle; Piszczalauski castle
General information
Location	Valadarskaha Street; Minsk, Belarus
Coordinates	53°53′56″N 27°32′52″E / 53.89889°N 27.54778°ECoordinates: 53°53′56″N 27°32′52″E / 53.89889°N 27.54778°E
Completed	1825
Design and construction
Architect	Pishchala

Drawing, 19th century

Photo, 1927

The Minsk Detention Center No. 1 (SIZO No. 1, Russian: СИЗО №1, Belarusian: СІЗА №1 informally known as Valadarka (Belarusian: Валадарка) is the central prison of the Republic of Belarus located in Minsk.

Modern usage[]

Operated by the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs, SIZO No. 1 is also the only facility that houses death row inmates. The execution of death row inmates occurs at the prison.

It is also a pre-trial detention centre where arrested political activists are held.^[1]

The building[]

The historical building is known as Pishchalauski Castle (Belarusian: Пішчалаўскі замак), also spelled Pischalauski Castle. The castle is also sometimes called the Belarusian Bastille.^[2] It is a registered state architectural monument.^[3]

The castle was built in 1825. It formerly served as a prison. The architect was named Pishchala.^[3]^[2]

A portion of one of the castle's four towers collapsed in April 2008.^[2]

Inmates and executions[]

Russian Empire[]

Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich (c. 1808–1884), Belarusian writer and social activist
Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935), Polish statesman
Karus' Kaganets (1868–1918), Belarusian writer; in 1905—1906 & 1910—1911
Alés Harun (1887–1920), Belarusian writer; in 1907
Jakub Kołas (1882–1956), Belarusian writer; 1908 to 1911

Soviet Union[]

On the night of 29/30 October 1937, during Stalin's Great Terror, NKVD officers executed 36 representatives of Belarusian culture, science and art in the castle basement, by shooting them in the head. Another 52 were executed that night in the basement of the building of the internal prison of the NKVD in Minsk near the Pishchalovsky castle. In total, during the repressions of 1937-1940, about 100 people were executed in the Pishchalovsky Castle, accused of anti-Soviet activities.^[4]

During the Great Patriotic War, arrested partisans and members of the underground were kept in the Pishchalovsky Castle. Some were executed or tortured there.

Since 1953, it was the only institution in the Byelorussian SSR where death sentences were carried out.^[5]

Opponents of president Lukashenko[]

Arrested during and after the 2020 presidential campaign, which lead to the contested reelection of Alexander Lukashenko:

Ihar Losik, blogger
Maria Kalesnikava, musician, politician
Yuliya Sluckaya, media manager
Marfa Rabkova, human rights defender
, blogger
, blogger
Maxim Znak, lawyer^[6]
Andrej Aliaksandraŭ, journalist
Aliaksandr Vasilievič, businessman
Maryna Zolatava, editor-in-chief of tut.by

References[]

^ "Charter'97 :: News from Belarus - Belarusian News - Republic of Belarus - Minsk". charter97.org. Retrieved Aug 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Tower collapses in "Belarusian Bastille"". BelePAN. April 22, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Pishchalauski Castle, Minsk, Belarus". Retrieved Aug 14, 2020.
^ Commemoration of victims of Stalinism took place in Kurapaty. At naviny.by.^{[dead link]}
^ "Volodarka". History of one prison. Retrieved 29 March 2016. Archived 14 April 2016.
^ "Письма из «таких мест». Юрист Максим Знак: «Там в прекрасном далеко просто должно быть хорошо»" (in Russian). Brestskaya Gazeta. 2021-01-29. Archived from the original on 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2021-01-30.

External links[]

Media related to Piščalaŭski Castle at Wikimedia Commons
Belarus Castles, Palaces and historical Manors database of Belarusian State Archive (in Russian)

This Belarus-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] "Charter'97 :: News from Belarus - Belarusian News - Republic of Belarus - Minsk". charter97.org. Retrieved Aug 14, 2020.

[belePAN-2] "Tower collapses in "Belarusian Bastille"". BelePAN. April 22, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2009.

[Belarusguide-3] "Pishchalauski Castle, Minsk, Belarus". Retrieved Aug 14, 2020.

[4] Commemoration of victims of Stalinism took place in Kurapaty. At naviny.by.^{[dead link]}

[5] "Volodarka". History of one prison. Retrieved 29 March 2016. Archived 14 April 2016.

[6] "Письма из «таких мест». Юрист Максим Знак: «Там в прекрасном далеко просто должно быть хорошо»" (in Russian). Brestskaya Gazeta. 2021-01-29. Archived from the original on 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2021-01-30.

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