Slovo Building, Residential building in Shevchenkivskyi District, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Slovo is a five-story apartment house at 9 Kultury Street with 66 units arranged in a horseshoe plan and accessed through five entrances. The facade shows modernist lines and functional details, while the interior spaces were originally planned for multi-person households.
The building was completed in December 1929 to house members of the Writers' Union and designed by Mykhailo Dashkevych. Starting in 1933, Soviet authorities launched mass raids against the residents, turning the place into a site of political repression.
This place once housed a community of writers who lived and worked together until it became a site of political persecution after the state housing administration took over. Today the building's past shapes local memory, and visitors often stop to reflect on the residents who lived here and faced their fate.
Visitors can view the outside facade from the sidewalk, while the entrances along the curved front provide multiple vantage points. Its central location in the district makes it easy to reach on foot, and the open street allows a clear view of the whole structure.
Forty of the sixty-six apartments saw arrests during the 1930s, prompting residents to call the place The Krematorium. The nickname reflects the local awareness of the loss and silencing that took place here.
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