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[BELARUSIAN NATIONALISM] Pad machtai: Paeziia [i.e. Under the Mast: Verses]

[Skurko, E.] Tank, M.

Vilnius: Vydan’ne Rygora Shyrmy, 1938. Item #1442

110, [2] pp. 21,5x15 cm. In original printed wrappers. Tears of spine, stains on covers, small spots on pages occasionally, otherwise very good.

In Belarusian. Printed in the last year Vilnius belonged to Poland.
The third collection of verses by Belarusian poet Maksim Tank (real name Eugenii Skurko; 1912-1995) who wrote under pseudonyms A. Hranit, Auhien Bura.
In the interwar period, Tank took an active part in the political life of Western Belarus. In particular, he was expelled from school, together with some other pupils, for participating in a protest against closing Belarusian schools by the Polish authorities. He even tried to emigrate to the USSR, illegally crossing the border, but was captured by NKVD and finally deported back to Poland. Skurko was arrested by Polish authorities several times but continued to operate in the underground Communist movement in West Poland.
Maksim Tank debuted with a collection of poetry ‘Na etepakh’ in 1936. After the Soviet Union annexed Western Belarus in 1939, the poet became a correspondent for the newspaper ‘Vileiskaia Pravda’, then joined the Soviet Union of Writers. During the Great Patriotic War, he contributed to the frontline press. After the war, Skurko held various senior positions in the Belarusian Soviet legislative system.

No copies are located in the USA.

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