Prytytski visiting kolkhozes in Molodehcno in 1958.
Meeting members of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in Minsk in 1965. Prytytski is standing fifth from the left.
From left to right: Kohanov, Kozlov, Prytytski in Moscow at the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1966.
From left to right: Prytytski, French Ambassador Olivier Wormser, Secretary of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, Mikhail Georgadze in Moscow in 1971.
Prytytski with his wife Tatyana in 1963.
Delegates of the People's Assembly of Western Belarus in 1939. Prytytski standing second from the left.
Presidium of the People's Assembly of Western Belarus in 1939. Prytytski is second from the left.
Prytytski with the Deputy Head of the Polish partisan command unit Nikilayenko in 1944.
Prytytski with his wife Tatyana among pilots in 1944.
Prytytski during the World War II.
Prytytski arrested in 1933.
Delegates of the People's Assembly of Western Belarus in 1939. Prytytski standing second from the left.
Presidium of the People's Assembly of Western Belarus in 1939. Prytytski is second from the left.
Prytytski with the Deputy Head of the Polish partisan command unit Nikilayenko in 1944.
Prytytski with his wife Tatyana among pilots in 1944.
During his studies in Moscow in 1945
Prytytski visiting kolkhozes in Molodehcno in 1958.
Meeting members of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in Minsk in 1965. Prytytski is standing fifth from the left.
From left to right: Kohanov, Kozlov, Prytytski in Moscow at the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1966.
From left to right: Prytytski, French Ambassador Olivier Wormser, Secretary of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, Mikhail Georgadze in Moscow in 1971.
Sergiusz Prytycki
military politician statesman colonel
Siarhei Prytytski was born on February 1, 1913 in Harkawicze village, at that time Grodno Governate, Russian Empire (today’s village in Podlaskie Voivodeship in north-eastern Poland). He was the third son of a school watchman. In 1914, his family moved to Nizhny Shkaft, Penza Oblast, Russia escaping from the approaching front of the World War I.
In May 1926, he graduated from a local 3-year school. In 1934 - 1935, he studied at the Communist Party of Western Belarus school in Minsk, Eastern Belarus, USSR. After war, he attended Higher Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow.
After finishing local school, he began to work at the fields of the rich peasants of his native village. In 1931, Prytytski became Secretary of the Komsomol (youth branch) of the illegal Communist Party of West Belarus in Krynki during the Second Polish Republic. In 1932, he became member of the party and was elected Secretary of the local party branch in Grodno. In 1933, Prytytski was arrested by Polish authorities for the first time and put into a prison in Grodno, but soon released.
In 1933 – 1934, he was a member of the local committee of the Communist Party of Western Belarus Komsomol in Slonim and led strikes of forestry workers in the area. In 1934 – 1935, after graduating from the Communist Party of Western Belarus school in Minsk in 1935, he became Secretary of the local youth branch of the Communist Party of Western Belarus in Slonim.
Prytytski made a widely publicized unsuccessful assassination attempt on a Polish agent provocateur Jakub Strelczuk in the Polish court at Vilnius on January 27, 1936, shooting from two Nagant revolvers. The operation was planned and organized by the leader of the West Belarusian Komsomol Mikalai Dvornikau, who also was the backup of the main executor. After the shooting, Prytytski was arrested and sentenced to death. The death sentence provoked wide international protest in West Belarus, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia and the United States. Following the protests, the Polish authorities changed the sentence to life imprisonment. Prytytski was freed in September 1939, after the Soviet invasion of Poland. He was elected into the People's Assembly of West Belarus and made a presentation demanding West Belarus to join the Soviet Union.
In late 1939, after the reunification of West Belarus with the Belarusian SSR, Prytytski was made Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of the newly established Belastok Voblast. After Germany's attack on the USSR in June 1941, Prytytski escaped to eastern Belarus still under the Soviet control. In June–August 1941, he led the defense preparations around Mogilev and the creation of defense people’s volunteer army near Gomel. In 1942 – 1944, Prytytski was Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Belarusian branch of the Komsomol. In 1944 – 1945, he was the Head of a pro-Soviet Polish partisan command staff. For his command of Polish partisans, he was awarded one of his Orders of the Red Banner.
After the end of the World War II, Prytytski became one of the most successful Soviet statesman from the ranks of the former West Belarusian pro-Soviet activists. In 1948-1951, he served as the first, and then the second Secretary of the Grodno Regional Committee, Communist Party of Belarus. In 1951 – 1953, he worked at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus. In 1953 – 1954, he was the first Secretary of Baranovichy Regional Committee, in 1954-1960 - Molodzyechno Regional Committee, and in 1960 -1962 – Minsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus. He organized collectivization of local agriculture. In the first post-war years, Prytytski was close to being arrested under accusations of anti-Soviet espionage for Poland. From 1962 to 1968, he was Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus and Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (the Government of Belarus). In 1968-1971, Prytytski was the Head of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus.
In the first post-war years, Prytytski was close to being arrested under accusations of anti-Soviet espionage for Poland. He headed Committees of the Communist Party of Belarus.
Quotes from others about the person
Famous Belarusian writer Yakub Kolas told: “Prytytski is already in the history of Belarus. This story will have its rise and falls, it can have a different color at different times, but Prytytski will still remain in the memory of the people, because not so often such great originals from masses reach such heights.”
Prytytski was married to Tatyana Ivanovna Prytytskaya.
