Slovo House
It all started with a Word – a building in Kharkiv. The “C”-shaped building was erected 100 years ago for Ukrainian writers and named after the occupation of its residents – “Slovo” translated from Ukrainian is “Word.” Prominent writers and artists lived at or regularly visited Slovo: Ivan Bagrianyy, Mykola Khvyliovyy, Pavlo Tychyna, Les Kurbas, Volodymyr Sosiura, Natalia Uzhviy, Mykola Bazhan, Ostap Vyshnia, Natalia Zabila, Valerian Pidmogylnyy, and many others.
It was a whole galaxy of talents, who praised the ideals of freedom, desire for beauty, and love for the Homeland. However, the Soviet authorities did not share such values. So they came up with the idea of gathering outstanding Ukrainian authors in one place – so that it was easier to watch them. It was also easier to find them.
In the early 1930s, the residents of Slovo started being snatched up and shoved into the Soviet NKVD's infamous black cars. Poets and novelists, whose only guilt was being free, disappeared one by one. In no time the building was renamed from Slovo to the Crematorium or the PDB – the Preliminary Detention Building.
There were 66 apartments in Slovo. 40 of its residents were arrested. 33 were executed by firing squads. Two more died in exile. Mykola Khvyliovyy committed suicide. In all, about 30,000 Ukrainian intelligentsia were repressed during Stalin's terror. This galaxy of talented Ukrainian authors, erased by Russian totalitarianism, was named the “Executed Renaissance.”
In March 2022, the Russians once again attacked Slovo, this time with artillery. The methods change, but the main idea remains the same: Russia is still striving to destroy Ukrainian culture.