23:53, 3 November 2022

KChR residents commemorate deportation victims

The Memorial to the Victims of the Deportation opened up for public in the village of Uchkenen on May 2, 2014. Photo by Leonid Tarasyev https://lookmytrips.com/585e8900ff9367418508a421/pamiatnik-zhertvam-deportatsii-ff9367

The participants of the mourning rallies held in the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) have laid flowers at the memorials to the Karachays' deportation victims. Now, even 79 years after the start of the deportation, the rehabilitation of repressed countrymen has not been fully carried out, social media users have pointed out.

In the USSR, the deportation of Karachays began on November 2, 1943; in total 69,267 people were evicted. Most of the repressed people – over 43,000, including 22,000 children – died on the way, as well as in resettlement places.

The deportation consequences are still being felt, the "Congress of the Karachay People" has stated on the Instagram*.

The law "On Rehabilitation of Repressed Nations" adopted back in 1991 has not yet been fully implemented, Kady-Hodji Khalkechev, the head of the "Congress of the Karachay People", said in his statement dated to the 75th anniversary of the deportation.

According to Khalkechev, the source of resentment for Karachays is still the authorities' unwillingness to award those Heroes of the Soviet Union from among Karachays whose awarding was not held due to deportation. The rehabilitation of Karachays has been incomplete, as they have not regained their autonomy, Mukhammad Karachay, an activist, has stated.

The numerous deportations were justified by Soviet authorities by the myths about mass betrayal and desertion of these nationals. Under Stalin, mass arrests, deportations and executions were conducted on the nationality basis; and entire nations were declared "hostile."

The number of deported Karachays exceeded 69,000, according to Pavel Polyan, a historian.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 2, 2022 at 01:13 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot