One place where inhabitants of Minusinsk and southern districts of the Krasnoyarsk Krai were shot and buried in the 1930s (as were those who died in prison) was the pine forest on the outskirts of the city on the slopes of Mount Lysukha; it is also known as the Minusinsk Grove. The greatest number of burials is to be found near the prison on the eastern side of the woods. Those shot were tossed into trenches dug earlier and then covered over. The exact number of victims is unknown. According to researchers no less than 4,500 people were executed in Minusinsk during the Great Terror (1937-1938).
In the 1990s the Memorial Society in Minusinsk studied the territory and interviewed witnesses. In 1992 thanks to Memorial’s efforts a monument (designer V.Yu. Fomaidi) was established on the site, a marble boulder with a metal cross leaning over it. The boulder bears the inscription, “To the victims of repression who died in Minusinsk in the 1930s to 1950s”. The memorial was funded by donations from individuals, enterprises and organisations in the city.
A Book in Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression in the Krasnoyarsk Krai (13 vols. 2004-2014) includes biographical entries for 45,400 who were shot or sent to the camps.
The Memorial online database names of 15,032 shot in the Krasnoyarsk Krai during the Great Terror, a further 8,363 were listed as sent to the camps in 1937-1938. (The Open List database names 1,734 who were shot in the city of Minusinsk during the Terror.)
| Date | Nature of ceremonies | Organiser or responsible person | Participants | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
30 October
|
Remembrance Day for the Victims of Political Repression
|
Minusinsk city administration
|
City officials, relatives of the victims, schoolchildren, delegations from Shushensky, Idrinsky and Yermakovsky districts of the Krasnoyarsk Krai
|
annual event
|
| State of burials | Area | Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
|
Have not survived
|
not established
|
not delineated
|
[ original texts and hyperlinks ]
“Monuments, memorials and plaques …”, A Book of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression in the Krasnoyarsk Krai (Vol 1, 2004)
N.V. Leontyev (compiler), A martyrology of the Minusinsk district, late 1920s to 1950s, Minusinsk museum of history and local studies
Ye. Korotkikh, “Contemporary accomplices of the executions?” Vlast truda (Minusinsk), 28 April 2016, No 31, p. 2 [retrieved, 30 May 2022]
“A monument to the victims of political repression has opened in Minusinsk”, Krasnoyarsk Memorial website (in two parts)
*
Reply from the Minusinsk City Administration (№ АГ-1828 of 27 June 2014) to a formal enquiry by RIC Memorial (St Petersburg)
