From 1918 until the end of the 1930s prisoners were shot and buried in the ravine behind the old Stefanovskoe town cemetery on Mount Krasnaya.
In 1930 Veliky Ustyug became a staging point in the despatch of forced settlers, dekulakized peasant families, to the north. The town’s monasteries were re-equipped as a camp in which many died of hunger and disease while waiting to leave for their place of exile. The dead were transported to the town cemetery and thrown into the ravine. Old inhabitants recall that several dozen bodies were buried in one grave and in winter they were not even covered with earth but with bast matting.
In 2004, at its own expense, the Stefanovo church erected a commemorative cross where the executions had taken place. It also cares for the memorial area.
A database including biographical entries on 26,866 individuals who were shot or sent to the camps was posted on, and then removed from, the regional administration website. Likewise, a list of 11,399 dekulakized or deported individuals was also posted and subsequently removed. No Book of Remembrance has been published for the Vologda Region.
| Date | Nature of ceremonies | Organiser or responsible person | Participants | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
30 October
|
Remembrance Day for the Victims of Political Repression
|
Veliky Ustyug town administration
|
Veliky Ustyug administration, clergy and congregation of Stefanovo church, relatives of the victims, schoolchildren
|
Annual event
|
| State of burials | Area | Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
|
Have not survived
|
not established
|
not delineated
|
[ original texts and hyperlinks ]
O.B. Zenkova, “ ’We shall build our own New World’ From the history of Ustyug’s monasteries after 1917”, Veliky Ustyug almanac, Vol. 8, Vologda, 2004 [retrieved, 27 May 2022]
“Veliky Ustyug, the town cemetery”, Website of the minor Orthodox orders of the fraternity of the Transfiguration [retrieved, 27 May 2022]
Reply by the Veliky Ustyug municipal district administration (№ 01-121/1113 of 28 April 2014) to a formal enquiry by RIC Memorial (St Petersburg)
