Novocherkassk hosts events in memory of workers executed 50 years ago

On June 1 and 2, the Rostov Region holds actions to commemorate the tragedy of 1962 in the city of Novocherkassk, where a mass shooting of the workers who went out for a strike took place.

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR) was the organizer of the rally in Novocherkassk. "Long time ago all the participants of those events have been rehabilitated; however, the burial places of those killed and executed on court verdicts are still unknown," says the website named "Rosprofsoyuz".

According to the press centre of the FITUR, Rostov-on-Don and Novocherkassk will host scientific conferences, roundtables and flower-laying ceremonies. "The tragic events in Novocherkassk are the links in one chain: the shooting of the workers' demonstration in Chicago on May 1, 1886; the 'Bloody Sunday' on January 9, 1905; and the Lena Massacre on April 17, 1912, in Russia," the ITAR-TASS quotes a source from the PR Department of the FITUR.

On June 2, 1962, in Novocherkassk, people, who were dissatisfied with the city authorities, working conditions and low salaries, came to the city committee of the CPSU aiming clarify their relationships with the authorities. A peaceful demonstration of workers was shot. As a result, 24 persons were shot dead, and 31 more were injured; hundreds of residents of Novocherkassk were convicted under Article 79 of the then RSFSR Criminal Code (mass disorders). The events of those days had long been kept secret.

Every year, in Novocherkassk, in the place of the tragic events of 1962, at the memorial stone, the public society of the city holds rallies.