Belarusians in Estonia held a poetry reading on Tuesday night to commemorate the 87th anniversary of the mass execution of poets, novelists, translators, and critics known as the “Night of the Executed Poets”.
Dozens of people gathered at RahvaRaamat bookshop in Tallinn’s Viru Keskus shopping center to hear literary works written by those who were killed in 1937.
The event, held for the third time, was held in Belarusian and Estonian and poems were also read out Ukrainian and English.
Riigikogu member Karmen Joller (Eesti 200) and Estonian poet and writer Maarja Kangro also addressed the crowd.
Maarja Kangro speaking at the ‘Night of Executed Poets’ on October 29, 2024. Source: Diana Olesjuk
The event marks the murder of more than a hundred members of the Belarusian intelligentsia who were shot on the evening of October 29-30, 1937 on the outskirts of Minsk at Kurapaty.
Among those murdered were poets, writers, critics and journalists. They were killed as part of USSR leader Joseph Stalin’s repressions to stifle Belarusian culture.
Of the 22 literature figures who were killed, the eldest was 47-year-old prose writer Janka Niemanskaja and the youngest were poet and translator Julija Taubin (26), literary critic Pjotr Hatuljou (25), and educator Ivan Žylutski (25).
Thousands more people were killed in Belarus between 1937 and 1941 during the Great Purge by the Soviet secret police.
Estonia’s Belarusian community marked ‘Night of Executed Poets’ on October 29, 2024. Source: Diana Olesjuk
No one knows how many people are buried at Kurapaty and estimates vary from 30,000—250,000. The Belarusian authorities have so far not disclosed any information.
Since 2020, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has led a crack-down on people who oppose his rule and on Belarusian culture which is seen as a symbol of dissent.
Approximately 1,500 people have been jailed in Belarus on political grounds.
The poetry reading in Tallinn was organized by Valgevene Maja (Belarus House).
Estonia’s Belarusian community marked ‘Night of Executed Poets’ on October 29, 2024. Source: Diana Olesjuk
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