The Case of the Union of Liberation of Belarus was a political and criminal case initiated 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, mobil ...

of the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

against several Belarusian scientists and culture activists. The case formed part of a wave of

Soviet repressions in Belarus Soviet repression in Belarus ( be, Савецкія рэпрэсіі ў Беларусі) refers to cases of persecution of people in Belarus under Soviet rule. Number of victims According to researchers, the exact number of people who became v ...

in 1929 - 1931. The

accused the victims of membership in a (presumably non-existent) anti-Soviet organization called the ''Union of Liberation of Belarus'' ( be, Саюз вызвалення Беларусі). Most of the accused were killed, or expelled to far-away regions of the USSR. The case started with the arrest of the editor Piotar Iljučonak on February 17, 1930. During the spring and summer of 1930 108 people were arrested. At the beginning the GPU saw

Vaclaw Lastowski Vaclaŭ Justynavič Lastoŭski (, , russian: Вацлав Усти́нович Ласто́вский), 8 November 1883 – 23 January 1938) was a leading figure of the Belarusian independence movement in the early 20th century and the Prime Min ...

(former prime minister of the

Belarusian People's Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; be, Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, ), or Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic R ...

), Alaksandar Ćvikievič and Arkadź Smolič (former agriculture minister of the

), as leaders of the organization. Later Alaksandar Adamovič (a Belarusian nationalist communist politician), Anton Balicki (statesman and writer), Piotar Iljučonak and Dźmitry Pryščepaŭ were viewed as such. People like the prominent poets Janka Kupała and Jakub Kołas or the first president of the Belarusian Science Academy

Usievalad Ihnatoŭski Usievalad Ihnatoŭski (, russian: Все́волод Мака́рович Игнато́вский; 19 April 1881 — 4 February 1931) was a Belarusian politician, scholar and the first president of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. ...

were at certain stages accused of being members of the ULB. All those arrested, except for 18 people, were sentenced to different terms of deportation. Usievalad Ihnatouski committed suicide on February 4, 1931. The supposed leaders of the ULB were sentenced to 10 years of deportation while most of the other members were deported to inner regions of the USSR for 5 years. In 1937—1941 the case was heard again; many of the convicts were executed, some sent to concentration camps. In 1937-1939 many of the GPU executives who had worked on the case were also themselves executed. Another wave of repressions occurred in 1949-1952 against those former ULB membership suspects who were still alive at the time.

List of suspects at the ULB case

The list is not full and includes only 98 people

References

Sources

* Аркуш А. Рызыкоўная барацьба намэнклятуры // Наша Ніва, No.7. * Сідарэвіч А. Трыюмвіры, або Помнік камісарам // Наша Ніва, No.13.

List of suspects at the ULB case

References

Sources

See also