In 1932 the Shaitansky logging depot and Shaitanka special settlement were created in the Novolyalinsky district to accommodate dekulakized peasant families, deported to the Urals from the centre and south of Russia (Voronezh and Rostov Regions). In 1941 Germans deported from the Volga region and in 1946 repatriated Soviet Germans were also sent here.
Both special settlers and deportees worked for the timber felling and processing works of the logging depot. Those who died there were buried in individual graves in the settlement graveyard. Their numbers have not been established.
The electronic Book of Remembrance (Gedenkbuch) of Russian Germans contains biographical entries on more than 100,000 Soviet Germans variously sentenced under Article 58, deported as forced settlers, or mobilised in camps of forced labourers.
The Memorial online database (2025) names 38,697 victims in the Sverdlovsk Region (see Yekaterinburg memorial). It includes the Nikulin family of nine from the Kirov Region who were “dekulakised” and sent to Shaitanka.
Over 2,000 transient Germans (born and resident elsewhere) figure among these victims: more than 600 were shot, during the Great Terror and the war; most of the rest were sent to the camps.
Drawing on other sources, but especially the Krasnodar Krai police records, the database lists families and individuals (total 13,162) deported to the Sverdlovsk Region. 6,276 were “dekulakised” or born in special settlements. More than half of 589, later deported by reason of their “nationality”, were Germans: families and individuals (total 233) were sent there directly in 1941 or 1942, or transferred via Novosibirsk Region or Kazakhstan.
| Date | Nature of ceremonies | Organiser or responsible person | Participants | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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nk
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Commemorative Services
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nk
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nk
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From time to time
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| State of burials | Area | Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
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Some headboards have survived
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Not established
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not delineated
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[ Original texts & hyperlinks ]
Yu.A. Gorbunov, At the Tavda wharves: Cultural and historical sketches, Yekaterinburg, 2007
G. Mikheyev, “A Urals trilogy”, G.A. Mikheyev’s website
