Press Release, 3.06.2019

On 2 June, activists of the Rostov branch of Yabloko traditionally came to the place of shooting of a peaceful demonstration of workers in the city of Novocherkassk in 1962, in order to honour the memory of the victims of the crime of the Soviet authorities.

In addition to the Yabloko activists, the mourning rally held on the anniversary of the tragic events was attended by several eyewitnesses to the events, representatives of the city of Novocherkassk, the City Duma, a representative of the trade unions and Tatyana Bocharova, Chair of the Novocherkassk Tragedy Foundation.

“It is sad to see that fewer people gather in the city square on this remembrance day. When the date of 2 June fell on weekdays, young people came – apparently, they were ordered to come [by the authorities]. But this weekend there are almost no young people, ” Irina Safronova, Chair of the Rostov branch of Yabloko, noted.

“What happened on 1-2 June, 1962, was not the tragedy of the city of Novocherkassk only. This was the tragedy of the whole country. However, residents of other regions in most cases do not know anything about it. They are unaware of the madness of the authorities, the huge number of victims, General Shaposhnikov who opposed the atrocious order to shoot a peaceful demonstration and refused to shoot at civilians. Is that right? This is important, this is our history! Let us not forget the lesson of the past, so that this will never happen again! ” Irina Safronova said.

The Novocherkassk shooting of a peaceful demonstration of workers took place on 1-2 June, 1962, when workers of the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant who were on strike and other residents of the city went on a demonstration. The demonstration was suppressed by the army and the KGB. According to official data, during the dispersal of the demonstration, 26 people were killed, 87 were injured. Seven organisers of the demonstration received death sentences, and they were shot, the rest were given lengthy imprisonment terms. In the late 1980s, in the perestroika period, all convicts were rehabilitated.