Writer and local historian Leanid Laŭreš has published two books introducing readers to the history of interwar Vilnius and Western Belarus.
One of them is an abridged translation of Stanisław Lorentz's "Vilnius Album", the other is a collection of selected articles by Vilnius writer and journalist Józef Mackiewicz. The texts are translated from Polish and are available for free download in PDF format on Academia.edu, reports Bellit.info.
The collection "Here was always the heart of the Grand Duchy..." includes translations of some of Józef Mackiewicz's newspaper articles from the 1930s, primarily those that, in the translator's opinion, would be of interest to Belarusian readers. Among other things, several interviews with playwright, theater figure, and prose writer Frantsišak Aliakhnovič after serving several years of hard labor in the Solovetsky camp.
"I would also add that, as a writer, it was not useless for me to translate Mackiewicz, because his prose, his style, his critical and sarcastic mind are truly captivating. This collection also contains several texts by his brother Stanisław, which meaningfully complement Józef Mackiewicz's articles," writes translator Leanid Laŭreš in the introduction.
"Vilnius Album" – selected memoirs of Dr. Stanisław Lorentz, Vilnius conservator in 1929–1935, who was responsible for the preservation and restoration of historical monuments.
The publication mentions names important to Belarusians: from Ferdynand Ruszczyc and Jan Bułhak to Adam Mickiewicz and Anton Lutskievich.
Both books include comments from the compiler and translator Leanid Laŭreš.
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