Monuments to repressed Poles and Lithuanians were demolished near Irkutsk

Monuments to Poles and Lithuanians repressed under Stalin were dismantled in the village of Pyvovarikha in the Irkutsk region. Local human rights activists reported this to “Taiga” publication. According to them, the monument to the executed Poles and the Lithuanian cross, which stood at the site of mass executions since 1989, suddenly began allegedly “obstructing the passage of officials.”

Oksana Trufanova, a lawyer and human rights activist, author of the study “Big Terror”, emphasized that the monuments were erected even in Soviet times with money collected by ordinary residents. They were located on the territory of the “Pyvovarikh” memorial complex for victims of political repressions. In addition to monuments to Poles and Lithuanians, there are also other monuments. The facility is overseen by the Cultural Heritage Protection Service of the Government of the Irkutsk Region.

• In the 1930s, there was a special zone of the NKVD near Pyvovarikha, where political prisoners were shot. Researchers estimate the number of people killed at 15,000-17,000. man The mass graves were found only in the fall of 1989 with the assistance of the UKGB, the prosecutor’s office and local scientists.