Press Release, 30.10.2020

On the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Reprisals, the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko  appealed to Alexei Teksler, Governor of the region, with the demand to ensure proper protection and maintenance, as well as to organise an additional study of the memorial complex Zolotaya Gora, the burial place of victims of Stalinist repressions in mines. According to official data, the complex can be considered one of the most massive burial places for victims of the Great Terror of 1937-1938 in Russia.

Activists of the regional branch of the party emphasie that the complex was given the status of a cultural heritage site of regional significance only last year, but this did not solve the problems, many of which have been going on since 1989 (the moment of the beginning of archaeological excavations and the creation of a memorial zone).

In particular, the territory of the memorial complex was enlarged, but it was not put on the cadastral register, protection zones and a regime of use were not established, the state historical and cultural expertise was reduced to rewriting existing documents for 1.7 million roubles, and the investigations of the alleged burial sites provided for by the technical assignment were never made, there have been no maintenance and care of the territory and the subject of protection, in addition, the authorities do not pay attention to the parking lot located on the territory of the memorial complex.

It should be noted the Zolotaya Gora complex is located on the western outskirts of Chelyabinsk, on the northern outskirts of the Shershni village. The memorial complex is built on the site of mass graves in mines. At present, there have been confirmed eight burial places of the victims shot in 1937-1938, according to the estimates, over 8,000 rest there.