Nalchik residents lay flowers at monument to victims of political repressions

The commemoration action at the monument to victims of political repression in Nalchik was attended by about a hundred people. They paid tribute to victims by a minute of silence and laid flowers to the monument.

The mass deportation of Balkars was committed on March 8, 1944. At least 37,713 Balkars were transported in 14 trains to the place of their new settlement in Central Asia. Of them, 52% were children, 30% - women, and 18% – men. In 1957, after 13 years of exile Balkars were allowed to return home.

According to organizers of the rally, today about a hundred people came at the monument to victims of political repression to commemorate the victims of repressions in 1930s and 1940s.

Khauti Shamov, a 91-year-old resident of the village of Nartan, said that in 1931 his father had been taken away to be shot in his eyes. "Father was not even allowed to get dressed. They took him away in his underwear," Khauti Shamov, who was six years old then, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

After his father's death, the Shamov family fled from the republic and wandered. In particular, they lived for 33 years in Turkmenistan, and returned to Kabardino-Balkaria only in 1984.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.