Vasiĺ Talaš (Dzied Talaš) – Belarusian Soviet partisan, prototype of the hero of the novelette “Dryhva” by Jakub Kolas. His grave is easy to find at the Pietrykaŭ city cemetery.

Vasiĺ Isakavič Talaš was born on December 25, 1844 in Belarusian Paliessie. In 1919, when the Soviet-Polish war began, the 75-year-old Talaš organized and led a partisan detachment to fight the Polish troops. After the end of the war and the establishment of Soviet power, he became chairman of the Navasiolki village council.

At the time the Second World War 97-year-old Dzied Talaš was arrested by the Germans, but was soon released. After the release he went to the partisans.

In January 1943, at the age of 99, Vasiĺ Talaš was sent to Moscow from a partisan airfield located among forests and swamps. There he visited manufactories, factories, state institutions and military units with propaganda stories about the activities of Belarusian partisans. He kept company with Jakub Kolas, posed for the sculptor Zair Azhur.

At the end of 1943, Dzied Talaš returned to the liberated Navabielica (outskirts of Homieĺ), and then moved to Navasiolki.

Vasiĺ Isakavič Talaš died on August 23, 1946 at the age of 102 and was buried in the Pietrykaŭ city cemetery. There is a modest obelisk on his grave with a bas-relief and a pentagonal star. A sign of historical and cultural value of the Republic of Belarus is attached to the monument.

Publication date: 15.09.2020.

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