25.08.2021

There will be no future without knowing the past

40 years ago, a mass grave of victims of the Great Terror of 1937-1938 was accidentally discovered at the Achinsk airport near Krasnoyarsk. In the late 1980s, with the help of Memorial Society volunteers at least six mass graves were found, where people who were allegedly shot were buried.

The Volga Germans, Balts, Kalmyks were exiled there. Once Kalmyks were brought to a manganese mine located not far from the city, they were placed in an open field, fenced with wire, where there was nothing, only a warders’ booth. They all were in dressing gowns and slippers in the 40-degree frost. Then warders took pity on them and drove them into the club of the manganese mine.

There were no beds, neither basic living conditions. Later, those who survived were ordered to work. One of the Kalmyks was Nikolai Ilyumzhinov, the father of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. After the end of his term, he entered the Achinsk Mechanical and Technological College and lived there for some time.

It is important to talk about this now, because without knowing the past, we will not have a future. History will not forgive its oblivion. Unconsciousness can lead to a repetition of the dark past.