Murdered, but not forgotten

88 years ago, several lifetimes ago, the threads of the destinies of hundreds of talented, intelligent, honest people broke, for whom words were not just words, but created new galaxies — and each of them was unique.

88 years ago, some people took revolvers in their hands and stood on the outskirts of ravines, confident in their right to punish, forever shut up the mouths of those who had the courage to speak — in full height, at the top of their voices. Those who simply lived, met different seasons and strongly wanted to be — despite any threats and danger.

After 88 years, the names of those brave people who were prematurely deprived of the opportunity to leave traces resounded with renewed vigor — as a reminder to us, the present. As a warning from the last limit.

Perhaps among these voices you will find “your own” — for which you will be able to hold on in the darkest times, in which you will find the ground and hope that will lead you through the whirlwinds and “blockages of time”.We want to believe that changes will come faster than we think, and that the circle of history, having turned around, will finally close.

On the anniversary of the “black night of Belarusian literature”, the “TAŬBIN” magazine publishes collections of poems by shot and repressed poets, invested by people of the year 2025, who from here, from the height of this time, comprehend the events of the bloody 1930s, that is closer to us than ever.

This year we are supplementing our small collection with the latest translations by Julij Taŭbin, poems by Zmitrok Astapenka, which were once rejected by Soviet censorship, and new translations from the Ukrainian “executed renaissance”. You may not even have heard of these poets, and that’s our mission, too — to tell them about them, to remind them that they were and that they stood in the places where we stand today.

Terror has no borders, nationalities and skin color. Let the voices of the murdered become louder.