The Minsk Detention Center No. 1 or SIZO No. 1 (
Russian: СИЗО №1,
Belarusian: СІЗА №1), informally known as Volodarka,[1] Belarusian pronunciation: Valadarka (Валадарка), is the central prison of the Republic of
Belarus located in
Minsk.
Name
The prison castle is known in
Belarusian as Pishchalauski Castle (Пішчалаўскі замак), also spelled Pischalauski Castle,[2] a name derived from the landlord who built it, Rudolph Pischallo.[1] The Russian version of the name is Pishchalovsky castle.[3]
Its popular name, Volodarka, was coined after the
October Revolution, when the street on which the building stood was renamed in honour of revolutionary leader
V. Volodarsky.[1] It is also sometimes called the Belarusian Bastille.[2]
The prison is also used as a pre-trial detention centre where arrested political activists are held.[4]
History
Russian Empire
The stone building was completed by 1824, and it was commissioned in spring 1825.[1] The castle-shaped structure was purposely built as a prison by the landowner Rudolph Pischallo (also spelled Rudolf Pischalo), who entrusted architect Kazimir Khrschonovich (also spelled Casimir Hrschanovicha) with the design.[1][5] The project was approved by
Tsar Nicholas I himself.[1] The main building is three stories high, flanked by four corner towers, and surrounded by the prison yard.[1]
Jakub Kołas (1882–1956), Belarusian writer (imprisoned 1908-1911)
Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935), future Polish statesman, held here while under investigation after being arrested in 1887[1]
Ivan Pulikhov (Pulichaŭ; 1879-1906),
revolutionary terrorist who attempted to assassinate the Minsk governor, hanged at the prison gates[1]
Soviet Union
After the
First World War, the prison was taken over by the
Cheka-
GPU.[1] Famous Socialist Revolutionary
Boris Savinkov, arrested after being lured back to Soviet territory as part of
operation "Trust", was held here for a while in 1924.[1]
On the night of 29/30 October 1937, during
Stalin's
Great Terror,
NKVD officers executed 36 representatives of Belarusian culture, science and art in the castle basement, by shooting them in the head. Another 52 were executed that night in the basement of the building of the internal prison of the NKVD in Minsk near the Pishchalovsky castle. In total, during the repressions of 1937-1940, about 100 people were executed in the Pishchalovsky Castle, accused of
anti-Soviet activities.[6]
During the
Great Patriotic War, arrested partisans and members of the underground were kept in the Pishchalovsky Castle. Some were executed or tortured there.[citation needed]
Pishchalauski Castle is a registered state architectural monument.[7] As of 2013, it was in urgent need of major repairs, with part of one of its four towers having collapsed in April 2008.[1][2] As of 2013, there were speculations that "Volodarka" might be transformed into a museum.[1]
Mikola Dziadok (born 1988), Belarusian activist; arrested for "violation of public order", etc.[8][9]
Alaksandar Kabanaŭ (born 1971), аuthor of the YouTube channel "People's Reporter", associate of
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, charged for "violat[ing] public order"and "insulting a government official", sentenced to 3 years in prison[10]
Maxim Znak (born 1981), Belarusian lawyer and politician; arrested for "conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional manner" and "establishing and leading an extremist organization".[15][16]