Soviet-Era Repressions - Crowds Pray for Victims on Official Day of Remembrance

Russian Faith ^ | 10/29/20

[marshmallow]

20,762 people were shot here during the Great Terror, from August 1937 to October 1938. This former NKVD shooting range is known as one of the places of mass executions and burials of victims of Soviet-era repression.

Relatives of the victims, parishioners of Moscow churches, representatives of public organizations, and the diplomatic corps take part in this “Voice of Memory” campaign every year.

On Friday, October 30, 2020, on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression, the annual "Voice of Memory" will be held at the Butovo training ground in Moscow, and many will pray for the victims of repression.

Traditionally, this commemoration begins with a memorial service at 10:00 at the Church of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Butovo training ground, the press service of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media reported.

Further, on the territory of the burial grounds in front of the memorial "Garden of Memory", the names of all those killed in Butovo will be read out in accordance with the "execution lists" of the NKVD, on days of execution.

All comers will also be able to lay flowers and candles on the embankment of the burial ditches. Reading will continue until approximately 19:00.

Everyone is invited to honor the memory of the victims of repression and take part in the reading of the names of those executed at the Butovo training ground. For those who cannot come to the Butovo training ground that day, an online reading will be organized on the Zoom platform from 12:00 to 18:00. You can join it here.