Taras Szewczenko wśród polskich zesłańców w guberni orenburskiej

In his poem Haidamaky Taras Shevchenko presented a drastic picture of the Massacre of Uman, carried out by rebels led by Maksym Zal iznyak and Ivan Gonta, a picture which many Poles resented. He attributed an even greater responsibility to Russia, which drove Ukraine into captivity. In 1847 a pamphlet against Tsarina Alexandra Fedorovna was found when his home was searched and the poet was exiled to do military service at the Orenburg garrison. The exile changed many of his views. As an exile Shevchenko lived among a large group of Poles. They included Bronisław Zaleski, who became his friend. The two men’s close friendship softened Shevchenko’s views, despite the differences between them.