In memory of victims of repression

Mourning rally and a ceremony for the reburial of the remains of citizens shot in 1937-1938 took place in Tiraspol at the memorial complex in memory of victims of political repressions.

The ceremony was attended by the President Vadim Krasnoselsky, deputies of the Supreme Council, representatives of the Government, Russian Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Oleg Vasnetsov, First President of the PMR Igor Smirnov, Archbishop of Tiraspol and Dubossary Sawa, representatives of various religious faiths, the leadership of the capital, Tiraspol residents and guests of the city.

The reburial, that took place today, was the final stage of a great search. In the early 1990s, during the restoration of the powder cellar of the Tiraspol fortress, the remains of more than 1250 repressed bodies were found and exhumed. Prospecting works near the walls of the bastion of St. Vladimir were resumed in 2017–2019.

President Vadim Krasnoselsky addressing those present emphasized that history, unfortunately, does not only consist of victories and joyful events, history also consists of tragedies. One of them is the repression of the thirties, when the inhabitants of our region were subjected to repression on unreasonable charges. Many of them were shot.

Thanks to the participants in the Heirs of Victory movement, activists, and archaeologists, the executed people were buried according to all the canons of Orthodoxy. In addition, documents were restored and the identities of many of these people were established. As a result of a lot of work, more than 700 people were reburied. Today, the remains of another 380 victims of political repression were interred.

The deputy of the Supreme Council, the chairman of the Pridnestrovian Association of War Veterans in Afghanistan, the leader of the Heirs of Victory movement Igor Buga addressed the audience.

At the end of the memorial service, fresh flowers lay on the granite slab of the memorial. After that, the participants of the event got acquainted with the exhibits of the Tiraspol fortress museum related to political repressions. They are located in the cellar of the bastion "St. Vladimir".

In addition, today the consecration and the first Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Church in the name of the New Martyrs and Confessors took place. The temple was built at the territory of the fortress.