Prisoners of three divisions of Belbaltlag were buried at a site 7 kms from Belomorsk (formerly Soroka): the 8th division, builders of the White Sea Canal, 1931-1933; the 3rd Sosnovets division, 1933-1936; and the 6th division, 1936-1941. In 1993 three members of staff from the 17th lock of the White Sea Canal – V. Shalin, I. Lysenkov and V. Gnetnev – erected a wooden memorial cross at the burial ground.
*
The Belomorsk district was mentioned in execution reports during the Great Terror as one of fourteen sites in Karelia where people were shot. That killing field and burial ground with its 62 victims has not been discovered.
Information, where it exists, about the identity and fate of Belbaltlag’s inmates is included in Books of Remembrance for the regions from which they came. A quick way to find any recorded links is to consult the “Victims of Political Terror” database with its 3 million entries (or the “Open List” database).
| Date | Nature of ceremonies | Organiser or responsible person | Participants | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
nk
|
Commemorative masses
|
nk
|
nk
|
From time to time
|
| State of burials | Area | Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
|
have not survived
|
not established
|
not delineated
|
[ original texts and hyperlinks ]
M. Sizov, “Crosses on the locks”, Vera: khristianskaya gazeta Severa Rossii [retrieved on 26 May 2022]
K.V. Gnetnev, The White Sea Canal: Time and Fate, Petrozavodsk, 2008
Unified State Register of Sites of Cultural Heritage (monuments of historical and cultural significance) of the nations of the Russian Federation
*
S. Krivenko, “Yury Dmitriev’s list”, Lessons of History website, 2 August 2019 [retrieved on 26 May 2022]
