In the 1930s those executed in Yeniseisk after being condemned by extra-judicial bodies were buried in the town cemetery. When the shootings took on a mass character during the Great Terror (1937-1938) the bodies were hidden in other secret locations in specially dug trenches.

In 1975 a deep trench containing victims of the terror was found during the construction of an electricity sub-station within the town limits. Eyewitnesses knew of the executions there. The prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation, but the results were not made public. The site foreman ordered that the remains be gathered and tipped into the bog nearby. His orders were carried out in part. Subsequently, garden allotments were created on the site. Z.M. Firer, then director of Yeniseisk communal services, organised the reburial of some of the remains in the town cemetery (his father was shot in 1938). A wooden cross was erected on each of the three common graves. Later two of the crosses were lost. One survived, however, and its location was indicated by L.K. Konnykh, a female relative of F.L. Konnykh who was shot in 1938.

On 18 October 2006 a monument was placed by the reburials with an inscription that reads, “In memory of the inhabitants of Yeniseisk who died during the repressive measures from the 1930s to 1950s”. It was created thanks to the efforts of the public and staff at the regional museum. The town administration and department of culture funded the monument, as did donations from the relatives of those arrested and shot. There are also several other unidentified common graves in the town cemetery that have been accidentally discovered as the cemetery expands.