Activists address Dagestanis for help in studying archives on repressed compatriots

In Makhachkala, participants of a memorial evening reported about the discovered facts of political repressions and the fate of the repressed compatriots. Activists called on residents of the republic to help with the study of found archival materials and also complained about obstacles in conducting archaeological excavations at the alleged burial site of the executed victims.

On October 30, different regions of Southern Russia hosted rallies in memory of the repressed people. In Volgograd and Nalchik, participants of memorial actions also paid tribute to memory of their repressed relatives.

In 1991, the establishment of Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions was an important decision for the country, stated Elena Guseinova, Director of the Poetry Theatre in Makhachkala.

Akhmed Muzhaidov, an organizer of the memorial evening, notes that the initiative group intends to create a thematic museum of repression.

Galina Arnautova, an assistant professor at the Dagestani State Agrarian University, came to the memorial rally to pay tribute to the two directors of the university who were repressed in the late 1930s, including Pyotr Kovalyov and Rabadan Nurov.

Historian Elmira Dalgat said that seven persons were repressed in her family, which members held top-ranking positions and were well-known figures in the 1930s. According to the historian, only three of her repressed relatives returned after rehabilitation, while the burial place of other four repressed family members is still not known.

Elmira Dalgat notes it is very important to study such pages of the state's history in order not to repeat the mistakes of the previous generation.