During building work on the southern outskirts of Gorno-Altaisk early in 1989 a burial of those shot by the NKVD, presumably in 1937-1938, was uncovered (there are reports that this burial was located earlier, in 1987). In the district known as Gardinka (from the old lacemaking factory that once stood there) a trench containing human remains with bullet holes through their skulls was accidentally discovered. Old inhabitants of the district said that during the Great Terror prisoners had been shot there at night.

The mayor of Gorno-Altaisk, V.A. Oglobin, was present during the exhumation. There are reports that the trench was immediately filled in and for a time the remains that had been removed were kept in sacks. Then the City committee of the Communist Party took a decision to rebury the remains and the bluff opposite the old cemetery [04-02] was chosen.

Later, in 1994, a memorial to the victims of political repression was also erected where their bodies had been found (sculptor P.I. Bogomolov). It was formally inaugurated on 31 October 1994.

In 2007, the square surrounding the memorial on Gardinka was planted by the city administration, with an avenue of young trees. It was then, presumably, that the originally wooden cross was replaced by one made of metal.