The Red Terror - Death To Political Enemies

Bagreevka is an estate in the suburbs of Yalta , on the territory of the Livadiysky forestry, where in 1920-1921 the Bolsheviks carried out a mass extermination of the city's population and, in general, of all those considered by the Soviet government to be its political enemies .

This was one of the sites of mass executions of city residents. About 1,000 people were killed here.

By 2008, the names of 800 of those killed had been established. Among those executed were people of various nationalities and social statuses: nobles and peasants, military personnel and priests, students and nurses, workers and scientists, lawyers and judges.

The burial site was determined only in the autumn of 1996, after which a wooden Orthodox cross was erected there. It was then that Archpriest Vladislav Schmidt, rector of the Church of St. John Chrysostom in Yalta, held the first memorial service at this site. Since 1997, every year, on October 30th, on the day of remembrance, not only Yalta residents began to gather at this site, but also the descendants of those who were shot in Bagreyevka.

With contributions from relatives of the deceased, Fr. Vladislav oversaw the construction of the memorial.

Every year, Father Vladislav conducts a memorial service at which he reads the names of the 800 known dead. I attended the ceremony this year with a small group of people that included families with small children.