Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič (, sometimes ''Vintsent Zhuk-Hryshkevich'', ; February 10, 1903 – February 14, 1989) was a Belarusian emigre politician. Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič studied at a Belarusian gymnasium in Budsłaŭ and then, after the gymnasium's closure, in the Belarusian Gymnasium of Vilnia from which he graduated in 1922. He graduated from the

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

in 1926 and worked in 1927-1939 as a teacher in the Belarusian Gymnasium of Vilnia, while also taking part in Belarusian activities in

West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus (; ; ) is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of th ...

, including work for a newspaper published by the

Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union The Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union or the Hramada (, ) was a socialist agrarian political party created in 1925 by a group of Belarusian deputies to the Sejm#Sejm of the Second Polish Republic, Sejm of the Second Polish Republic that inc ...

. In late September 1939, after the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

, Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič was first appointed editor in a Soviet newspaper but very soon arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

. After several months of tortures, he was sent to

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

concentration camps in

Kotlas Kotlas () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Northern Dvina and Vychegda Rivers. Population: Kotlas is the third-largest town of Arkhangelsk Oblast in terms of p ...

and

Vorkuta Vorkuta (; ; Nenets languages, Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin a ...

. In 1942 he was set free as a Polish citizen and fought in the

Anders' Army Anders' Army was the informal yet common name of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in the 1941–42 period, in recognition of its commander Władysław Anders. The army was created in the Soviet Union but, in March 1942, based on an understand ...

in Egypt and Italy, including the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

. After the war, Žuk-Hryškievič first settled in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

where together with other Belarusian veterans of the Anders Army he became one of the founders of the Association of Belarusians in Great Britain. In 1950, he moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and actively participated in Belarusian activities in North America as one of the leaders of the Belarusian Canadian Alliance. In 1952, he earned a Ph.D. in Literature at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

.Жыцьцё Вінцэнта Жук-Грышкевіча

he Life of Vincent Zuk-Hryskievic He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

by Raisa Zuk-Hryskievic, Toronto, 1993, p. 109 For a period of two years he moved to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, at the invitation of President

Mikoła Abramčyk Mikola Abramchyk (, ) (16 August 1903 – 29 May 1970) was a Belarusian journalist and emigre politician and president of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile during 1943–1970. Life He attended school in Radashkovichy. In 1923, after ...

. Here he established and managed the Belarusian section of

Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

. He made the first broadcast to his homeland on May 20, 1954, and remained with the programme until April 1956 when he returned to Toronto. Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič was president of the government-in-exile of the

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

between 1970 and 1982.

External links

Першы партал Нарачанскага краю - Вінцэнт Жук-Грышкевіч

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhuk-Hryshkevich, Vincent 1903 births 1989 deaths People from Myadzyel district People from Vileysky Uyezd Belarusian Roman Catholics Members of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic Belarusian anti-communists Belarusian emigrants to the United Kingdom Belarusian emigrants to Canada Charles University alumni Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people Polish military personnel of World War II Belarusian Gulag detainees 20th-century Belarusian journalists