Tiraspol, October 30. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. In Tiraspol mourning rally dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions was held. The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Moldova Oleg Vasnetsov, heads of state and local authorities, clergy and members of the public attended the memorial events.
As the head of state noted during the rally, the tragic events of the 30s of the last century were an integral part of our common history.
“This is our history. Unfortunately, it consists not only of victories and joyful events, but also of tragedies, one of which is repression of the 30s. In execution pits near the powder magazine, there are people of different nationalities and religions. They are victims of the repression and unfounded accusations,” Vadim Krasnoselsky said.
At the same time, the President urged to refrain from political speculation on the topic of repression.
“And we are not going to expose those responsible for these events. Our goal is to honor the memory of the fallen, to remember them. And it is unacceptable to do political publicity stunt using this, since this is a big sin,” the head of state emphasized.
During the years of political repression on the territory of Pridnestrovie, there were more than 5.5 thousand people shot, of which about 5 thousand were shot in Tiraspol. The lists of victims include people of various professions, ages, and views: leading party and business workers, representatives of the clergy, Cossacks, workers and peasants.
In the 1990s, graves were discovered during the work on the territory of the bastion of St. Vladimir in the Tiraspol fortress. Then the remains of about 800 repressed were found. Then they were reburied in a mass grave near the powder magazine.
In 2017, large-scale work on exhumation was started with the support of the city authorities. Excavations were carried out by the activists of the republican youth movement Heirs of Victory. Since that time, the remains of about 1,080 people have been found buried in 16 execution pits.
“These are the remains of those whom young people from 15 to 20 years of age had been getting out of execution pits for 3 years, preparing for exhumation. I want to thank these guys, because not every adult has seen such things. This work is necessary for us, the descendants, so that never in history does this happen again. Only a court can plead guilty to a person, but not the “three” or the “five”, Igor Buga, head of the Heirs of Victory movement said.
On this day, those who were personally affected by the tragic events came to the memorial to commemorate the victims. To date, the capital Association of Victims of Political Repression consists of 250 people. The organization carries out a lot of research work.
“We have published 2 books of memory, but these are not books of memory, but books of tears. With the help if these books, the relatives find their relatives who were shot in the 30s and 40s,” the head of the organization Pavel Kushko said.
At the end of the rally, clergymen of several traditional denominations held the memorial service all together. After that, the remains of 380 victims of political repression found during excavations in the bastion of St. Vladimir in the Tiraspol fortress were buried.
