Frantsishak Alyakhnovich (March 9, 1883 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

– March 3, 1944 in Vilnius, be, Франці́шак Ка́ралевіч Аляхно́віч, translit=Francišak Karalevič Alachnovič, russian: Франтишек Ка́рлович Олехно́вич (also Аляхнoвичъ, Франц ОлехновичФранц Олехнович. 2012. ''В когтях ГПУ'' n the Claws of the GPU �ер. с белорус. Е. А. Тараса(Серия: Неизвестная история). Минск: Харвест Frants Olekhnovich. 2012. ''V kogtiakh GPU'' n the Claws of the GPU ranslated from the Belarusian by Ie. A. Taras(Seriia: Neizvestnaia istoriia nknown History. Minsk: Kharvest, 320pp. )) was a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian writer, journalist descended from the

Ruthenian nobility Ruthenian nobility ( uk, Руська шляхта, be, Руская шляхта, pl, szlachta ruska) refers to the nobility of Kyivan Rus and Galicia–Volhynia, which found itself in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwe ...

. Alyakhnovich was a theatrical writer, director and journalist in

West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus ( be, Заходняя Беларусь, translit=Zachodniaja Bielaruś; pl, Zachodnia Białoruś; russian: Западная Белоруссия, translit=Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of mod ...

. He was editor of the newspaper ''Беларускі звон'' (''Biełaruski zvon'') published in

. In 1926 he decided to stay in

East Belarus East Belarus usually refers to the part of Belarus that was part of the Soviet Union between 1919 and 1939, as opposed to West Belarus that was part of the Second Polish Republic at that time. The region was known as the Socialist Soviet Republi ...

after a conference in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. Several months later he was arrested by the

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...

and sent to Solovki prison camp. He spent seven years in the Gulag and only in 1933 was he exchanged for

Branislaw Tarashkyevich Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich, russian: Бронисла́в Ада́мович Тарашке́вич, lt, Bronislavas Taraškevičius, pl, Bronisław Adamowicz Taraszkiewicz (20 January 1892 – 29 November 1938) was a Belarusian public fi ...

, a West Belarusian politician and linguist held in a Polish prison. Alyakhnovich's Gulag experience became a basis for his 1934 book of memoirs '' У капцюрох ГПУ'' (''U kapciuroch HPU'', ''In the claws of the

''), that was later translated into several languages. During the Second World War, Alyakhnovich collaborated with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and was editor of the newspaper ''Беларускі голас'' (''Biełaruski hołas'', ''Belarusian voice'') published in

. Apart from that, he was also one of the leaders of the

Belarusian Independence Party The Belarusian Independence Party ( be, Беларуская незалежніцкая партыя, БНП, ''Biełaruskaja niezaležnickaja partyja'', BNP) was a Belarusian nationalist political organization during the Second World War. Creati ...

- an illegal and underground Belarusian nationalist organization led by Fr. Vincent Hadleŭski. In 1944, Frantsishak Alyakhnovich was assassinated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alyakhnovich, Frantsishak 1883 births 1944 deaths Writers from Vilnius People from Vilensky Uyezd Belarusian Independence Party politicians Belarusian dramatists and playwrights Belarusian journalists Male dramatists and playwrights Belarusian male writers Male journalists 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century male writers 20th-century journalists Belarusian collaborators with Nazi Germany Foreign Gulag detainees Burials at Rasos Cemetery