Remains of victims of Soviet repression identified
More than 3,600 people were executed in 1937-1938 during Stalin’s reign. Photo: Batumi and Lazeti eparchy
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The bodies of over 150 people repressed in 1937-1938 during Stalin’s reign, otherwise known as the Great Terror, have been identified in Georgia’s seaside resort of Batumi.
The remains were found at #338 Pridon Khalvashi street in Batumi, the local eparchy reported yesterday.
The clergy also said the bodies will be laid to rest on April 21 on the territory of the #3 military base in Batumi.
Photo: Batumi and Lazeti Eparchy/Facebook page
In those two years, more than 3,600 people were executed by on order of members of the Politburo and Stalin himself.
About 3,100 of them were condemned to execution by shooting. Sentencs were executed in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi and Sokhumi.
A poignant display opening today in Tbilisi will tell the personal stories of citizens exiled and persecuted during the brutal political repressions of the Soviet regime in Georgia.
Today is European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, which is an international remembrance day for victims of totalitarian ideologies.
Unique documents and photo materials displaying the tragic events that took place in Georgia from 1937 to 1938 during Stalin’s Soviet Regime, otherwise known as the Great Terror, has been collected on the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia website.
The Soviet Past Research Laboratory (SOVLAB) calls on Georgian authorities and Batumi clergy to fully explore and investigate the bodies found on April 5 in Batumi.
Another grave has been found in Batumi, in western Georgia, which is very likely to contain the remains of victims of Soviet repression in 1937-1938 during Stalin’s reign.
Names of the residents of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi who were killed or exiled during the 1937-38 Soviet repressions were read out loud in Tbilisi today. The victims of the Soviet regime were remembered in relation to the date (July 30, 1937) when the Soviet Union leadership issued decree N00447 on the detention and punishment of so-called “kulaks, criminals and anti-Soviet elements.”
The US Embassy in Tbilisi says that 99 years after the Soviet occupation of Georgia began, the US stands with Georgia in support of its hard-fought sovereignty, citing famous Georgia writer Mikheil Javakhishvili and his description of the occupation.