The Vokvad special settlement in the Sysolsky (later Koigorodsky) district of the Komi Republic was created in 1930 by dekulakized peasant families, expelled from the Arkhangelsk and Vologda Regions and from the Volga. In February 1940, a group of deported Polish citizens (“military settlers”, about 20 people) were brought there, followed in June that year by a group of Polish Jews (“refugees”, about 300 people).
The forced settlers who died in Vokvad were buried in individual graves in a cemetery in the woods one km from the village. According to other sources, the cemetery was at first located 500 metres to the south of Vokvad; then the land was ploughed up and the new cemetery was located on the banks of the Vad lake. The settlement was closed in 1974.
In 2001, descendants of the inhabitants of the Vokvad special settlement erected a metal commemorative cross with a memorial plaque in the cemetery.
Repentance: the Komi Republic Martyrology of the Victims of Mass Political Repression (11 vols. 1998-2016), includes biographical entries on over 57,000 who were deported to special settlements in Komi.
Тhe Memorial online database (2021) lists 1,516 individuals who from 1930 onwards were deported to Vokvad or were subsequently born there; it names 67 who died there.
| Date | Nature of ceremonies | Organiser or responsible person | Participants | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
July
|
Commemorative visit (2-3 days)
|
Former Vokvad deportees
|
Descendants of those deported to Vokvad
|
Annual event
|
| State of burials | Area | Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
|
Burial mounds and subsidence, individual headboards
|
not established
|
not delineated
|
T. Chugayeva, “A candle floats on the water”, Respublika (Syktyvkar), 31 July 2010
Reingold Bikhert, “Grandma’s prayers have protected me all my life”, Respublika (Syktyvkar), 25 January 2013
“Memory has no statute of limitation”, Novaya zhizn, 8 September 2014 [retrieved on 26 May 2022]
