Abkhazia commemorates victims of political repressions

Today, in Sukhumi, at the monument to victims of political repressions of 1930-1940s, representatives of the public and the Abkhaz leaders and students gathered to pay tribute to memory of the repressed persons.

On that day, the monument, constructed in 2011 in the park near the Parliament of Abkhazia, was visited by relatives and friends of the repressed persons, the republic's leaders, students, schoolchildren, and public figures. They laid fresh flowers to the monument and lit memorial candles.

According to Irma Akirtava, a daughter of a repressed man, the date of October 30 is a sad and at the same time a festal day, since there is the place, where people can come on that day to light candles and to lay flowers.

"The fact that today, so many people have come to the monument to repressed persons proves that nothing is forgotten. I see there are a lot of young people, and it pleases me. Younger generation should know about the tragic pages of our people and pay tribute to the memory of victims of Stalin repressions," said Anatoly Piliya, Chairman of the Association of Victims of Political Repressions.

According to Yury Latariya, the author of the "Book of Memory of Victims of Political Repressions of 1930-1940s", all prominent figures of the then Abkhazia became victims to the political repressions of that time.