The 30th of October is the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repressions. The date was fixed in the calendar after the events of 1974 – the hunger strike of political prisoners. Everyone who suffered during the years of great terror is remembered on this day – this is what called the second half of the 1930s. Enemies of the people, traitors to the motherland, counter-revolutionary activities, execution pits, liquidation, punitive sanctions – all these are the realities of those years. There is a tragic page inscribed with these inhuman terms in the history of the Pridnestrovian region, whose land has covered thousands of bodies of innocent victims of arbitrary rule and repression of citizens – representatives of different nationalities, religions, social groups. Pridnestrovians to this day find places of mass burial of the executed. Excavations, search activities, work with archives are underway. The remains of more than two thousand people were discovered in the 90s of the last century and reburied near the walls of the powder cellar of the bastion of St. Vladimir (Tiraspol fortress). More than a thousand were exhumed in 2017-2019. Four execution pits were discovered near the fortress walls in 2021. Hundreds of victims were laid to rest in mass graves. To date, the remains of 3775 people have been reburied. The ongoing search work of archaeologists, historians, law enforcement officers, representatives of city services and the "Heirs of Victories" military-patriotic club made it possible to raise from the ground and rescue from oblivion another one and a half thousand of those who died from punishers’ weapons. 1575 people, these are workers, peasants, military, leaders, statesmen and public figures found peace more than eight decades after their death. They were reburied at the memorial complex created near the Tiraspol fortress. Litiya for the dead was served by representatives of traditional religious denominations – the rabbi of the Jewish community, the pastor of the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, the rector of the Catholic parish, the dean of the central district of the Tiraspol-Dubossary diocese.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky was among the numerous participants of the mourning rally. Speaking about the events of 85 years ago, the President called them an example of extreme cruelty, the total destruction of people. Vadim Krasnoselsky focused on the dictates of one historical figure and the complicity of the entire nation, which allowed the mass destruction of people. The President stressed that only the realization of guilt and universal repentance will bring the forgiveness of the ancestors, without which a prosperous future of society is impossible.
The President expressed gratitude to the participants of the search and research work, noting its moral and physical complexity. Words of gratitude for indifference and assistance are addressed to the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the "Heirs of Victories" movement. Vadim Krasnoselsky called for observance of God's laws and love for one's neighbor, emphasizing that development is possible only if one moves along the path of philanthropy.
The President laid fresh flowers at the mass grave and at the memorial sign installed on the memorial to the victims of political repressions. Candles were lit in memory of them in the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church built on the site of the tragedy.
The President at the end of the funeral event was told about the ongoing excavations around the bastion of St. Vladimir. Archaeologists are extracting more and more new artifacts that tell not only about the tragic events of the end of the last century, but also about the Pridnestrovian reality in much more ancient periods of history.
