The Soroklag camps existed from 1938 to 1942. Prisoners of the 4th division were employed, building the railway branch line from Obozerskaya to Sorokskaya. The camp cemetery was located on Mount Glinorukha; it was here that those who died in infirmary No 1 were buried. The numbers buried in the cemetery have not been established.
In 1991, the cemetery was investigated by A.M. Krysanov, director of the Onega Museum and chairman of the town’s “Sovest” (conscience) society. About 400 burials were discovered on both sides of the forest road. In September 1992 members of the Sovest society put up a metal cross in the cemetery. In summer 1995 a boulder was installed at the junction between the railway and the main road bearing a plaque that reads, “To the victims of political repression”.
In 2011 and 2012 two individual memorials were placed next to the commemorative cross by relatives of the prisoners I.K. Botte (died 1941) and N.V. Cherkashin (died 1942). Today the burials of prisoners can only be located by characteristic subsidence of the soil.
Information about some deceased Gulag inmates can be found in Memorial’s Victims of Political Terror database with its 3 million entries, or in the Open List database (“Victims of Political Repression in the USSR, 1917-1991”).
| Date | Nature of ceremonies | Organiser or responsible person | Participants | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
30 October
|
Remembrance Day for the Victims of Political Repression
|
Onezhsky and Pokrovskoe district administrations
|
Onezhskoe branch of Sovest organisation, Administration officials and members of the public
|
Annual Event
|
| State of burials | Area | Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
|
characteristic subsidence
|
not defined
|
not delineated
|
[ original texts and hyperlinks ]
“The Gulag in Onega district”, In the North forum, 4 February 2012
“Solemn meeting on the Day of Commemoration of the Victims of Political Repression”, Website of Onezhsky municipal district administration, 31 October 2013
“Bonguda village. Soroklag prisoners’ cemetery”, Virtual Museum of the Gulag [retrieved, 27 May 2022]
Reply from the Onezhsky municipal district administration (№ 1673 of 02 April 2014) to a formal enquiry by RIC Memorial (St Petersburg)
