In the Claws of the GPU

''In the Claws of the GPU'' ( pl, Siedem lat w szponach GPU) is the first-ever book-length eyewitness account of the Soviet Gulag (including the first Gulag Solovki prison camp). It was written by Francišak Aljachnovič, a Belarusian playwright, nationalist, and citizen of the Second Polish Republic (in Polish documents, his name is spelled Franciszek Olechnowicz). After his release from Gulag and return to Poland in 1933, Aljachnovič immediately wrote the book in three language versions, namely, in Belarusian, Polish, and Russian. In 1934 the Polish version was serialized in the daily '' Słowo'', published in Wilno. In 1934-1935 the Russian-language version (in pre-1917 orthography) was serialized in the White émigré newspapers '' Vozrozhdenie'' in Paris, and in '' Nash put''' in Harbin, Manchukuo.

Publication History

In Polish:
* Franciszek Olechnowicz. 1935. ''Siedem lat w szponach GPU'' even Years in the Claws of the GPU Wilno ilnius Nakładem autora t Author's Expense
* Franciszek Olechnowicz. 1937. ''Prawda o Sowietach (wrażenia z 7-letniego pobytu w więzieniach sowieckich r. 1927-1934)'' he Truth about the Soviet Union: Experiences from the Seven-Year-Long Incarceration in Soviet Prisons, 1927-1934 Warsaw: Nakładem autora t Author's Expense 152pp.
* Franciszek Olechnowicz. 1938. ''Prawda o Sowietach (wrażenia z 7-letniego pobytu w więzieniach sowieckich r. 1927-1933)'' he Truth about the Soviet Union: Experiences from the Seven-Year-Long Incarceration in Soviet Prisons, 1927-1933(Ser: Biblioteka Osadnika, Vol. 4). Kurytyba uritiba, Brazil Nakład i druk ''Gazety Polskiej w Brazylii'' ublished and printed by the ''Gazeta Polska w Brazylii'' 155pp.
* Franciszek Olechnowicz. 1990. ''7 lat w szponach GPU'' Years in the Claws of the GPU Warsaw: Centrum Informacyjno-Reklamowe (CIR). 167pp. .
In Belarusian:
* Францішак Аляхновіч. 1937. ''У капцюрох Г.П.У.'' Вільня: выданне аўтара. Francišak Aliachnovič. 1937. ''U kapciuroch H.P.U.'' n the Claws of the GPU Vilnia: vydannie aŭtara ilnius: Published by the Author 159pp.
* Францішак Аляхновіч. 1941-1942. ''У капцюрох ГПУ''. In the newspaper ''Мiнская прауда''. Nos> 1941: 7–12, 14–17, 19; 1942: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9–12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 36, 37, 39, 41.
* Францішак Аляхновіч. 1991. ''У капцюрох ГПУ''. In the periodical ''Полымя'', No 1, pp. 151–214.
* Францішак Аляхновіч. 1994. ''У капцюрох Г.П.У. Аповесць''. Мінск: Мастацка література. Francišak Aliachnovič. 1994. ''U kapciuroch H.P.U. Apoviesć'' n the Claws of the GPU: A Tale Minsk: Mastacka litieratura, 238pp. .
* Францішак Аляхновіч. 2005. У капцюрох ГПУ (pp 223-390). In: Ф. Аляхновiч. ''Выбраныя творы''. Мінск: Беларускі Кнiгазбор. .
* Францішак Аляхновіч. 2015. ''У капцюрох Г.П.У. Дакументальная аповесць'' (Серыя: Мая беларуская кніга). Мінск: Попурри. Francišak Aliachnovič. 2015. ''U kapciuroch H.P.U. Dakumientalnaja apoviesć'' (Sieryja: Maja bielaruskaja kniha) n the Claws of the GPU: A Documentary Tale (Ser: My Belarusian Book) Minsk: Popurri, 288pp.

Translations

* Portuguese: Fr nciszekOlechnowicz. 1937. ''Sete Annos nas Garras Soviéticas (Verdade sobre os Soviets)'' even Years in the Soviet Clutches (The Truth about the Soviets) ranslated from the Polish by Eva Wedber Rio de Janeiro: Amorim Cia Ltda and Livraria Moura, 190pp.
* Ukrainian: Францішек Аляхновіч. 1937. ''7 літ на Соловках. Спомини білоруського діяча про миртиірольогію у Совітах''. Львів: Накладом Видавничої Спілки „Діло" у Львові Frantsishek Alyakhnovich. 1937. ''7 lit na Solovkakh. Spomyny bilorusʹkoho diyacha pro myrtyirolʹohiyu u Sovitakh'' years in the Solovki Prison Camp: A Memoir of a Belarusian National Activist on the Sufferings and Martyrdom of Inmates in the Soviet Camps Lʹviv: Nakladom Vydavnychoyi Spilky „Dilo" u Lʹvovi, 168 pp.
* Italian: Franciszek Olechnowicz. 1938. ''La verità sulla Russia bolscevica. Impressioni di un russo-bianco nazionalista liberato dopo sette anni dalle prigioni dell'URSS'' he Truth about Bolshevik Russia: Impressions of a Belarusian Nationalist Freed After Seven Years Spent in the Prisons of the USSR ranslated from the Polish by Gian d'Arce Firenze lorence Nerbini, 60pp (large format, 28cm).
* Russian: Франц 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.
* Russian: Франц Олехнович. 2012. ''В когтях ГПУ'' n the Claws of the GPU �ер. с белорус. Е. А. Тараса(Серия: Неизвестная история). Рига: Институт беларуской истории и культуры 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. Riga: Institut belaruskoi istorii i kul'tury, 319pp.Catalog entry in the National Library of Belarus
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See also

* :
S. A. Malsagoff. 1926. ''An Island Hell: A Soviet Prison in the Far North'' . London: A. M. Philipot Ltd.
*'' A Travel to the Land Ze-Ka'', a similar early Gulag memoir by a Polish citizen of the Jewish ethnicity, Julius Margolin, written in Russian, completed in 1947, published in 1949 in a French translation, and three years later (1952) in the Russian original in New York.
*'' A World Apart: The Journal of a Gulag Survivor'', another Gulag memoir by a Polish citizen of Polish ethnicity, Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, written in Polish, completed in 1950, published in 1951 in an English translation in London, and two years later (1953), in the Polish original also in London.
*''One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'', a fictionalised account of Gulag life by a Soviet citizen of Russian ethnicity, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, written in Russian, published in 1962 in Moscow, and the following year (1963) in an English translation in New York.
*'' Gulag: A History''

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:In the Claws of the GPU
Gulag memoirs
Novels about political repression in the Soviet Union
Non-fiction books about the Gulag
1935 non-fiction books
Polish books
Belarusian books