Tomsk. Kashtak

A newspaper article about how human remains were found during an excursion to Kashtak, the site of mass executions, in October 1991

The document is saved here: https://mapofmemory.org/sites/default/files/doc/Tomsk_reg.pdf (items 20, 21).
The answer contains a list of mass graves of victims of political repression, monuments and memorial signs. The legal status of the land plot is indicated and a note is made as to whether the site is a cultural heritage site

Address: Tomsk, Mira Ave. 1I

Date: consecrated 12/17/2017

The rector of the church is Archpriest Alexander Shakhov.

Description: A temporary wooden church built during the construction of a permanent stone church. Today, Divine Liturgy is celebrated there every Sunday and on holidays.

Sources and bibliography:

• Tomsk diocese. Temples. Tomsk city deanery
• Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. vk.com

An interview with historian Boris Trenin about the prison, the history of the executions at Kashtak, how and when human remains were discovered. About how the history of perpetuating the memory of victims of political repressions developed.
The article "Mass executions on Kashtak" is dedicated to the tragic events of mass repressions in Tomsk in the first half of the 20th century. The author examines the issues of installing a Worship Cross in memory of the victims of political repressions, and also touches upon the problem of accurately determining the locations of mass executions and burials. Based on the recollections of historians and eyewitnesses, the article describes the main locations associated with the executions, including Govorov Street, the Sibkabel area and the Krutoovrazhny settlement. Particular attention is paid to the role of the Tomsk authorities and the Memorial Society in perpetuating the memory of the victims, as well as discussing the problems with access to archival documents.

The article mentions:

• Boris Pavlovich Trenin is the co-chairman of the Tomsk Historical and Educational Society "Memorial", a historian, and one of the key experts on the topic of mass shootings in Tomsk.
• Vitaly Malashchuk, deputy chairman of the city executive committee in 1989, was actively involved in the issue of perpetuating the memory of the victims of repression.
• Yuri Petrukhin – participated in the study of archival documents on the repressions.
• Oleg Shuteev is a public figure, the initiator of the installation of the Cross of Worship, and the organizer of the collection of signatures from residents of Kashtak.
• Alexander Makarov is the mayor of Tomsk, who supported the idea of installing a memorial cross.
• Viktor Kress, Governor of Tomsk Oblast, signed an order to create a memorial to the victims of repression.
• Bishop Rostislav, a church figure, approved the idea of installing the Cross of Worship.
• Matvey Berman – head of the Tomsk Provincial Cheka in 1921, later head of the GULAG, one of the organizers of the repressive policy in the region.
• Alexander Ryzhiy is a former police officer and a witness to the executions of the 1940s.
• Nikolay Klyuev is a Russian poet, mentioned in the context of assumptions about the place of his burial in Tomsk.
• Sergei Yesenin is a Russian poet, his photograph was discovered during construction in the Sibkabel area.

The article highlights the importance of preserving historical memory, as well as the difficulties in reconstructing the full picture of the repressions due to the secrecy of archives and the lack of official data.

On the consecration of the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, erected in memory of the victims of Stalin's repressions on Kashtachnaya Gora in Tomsk. The church is part of the memorial complex "Tomsk Golgotha", created on the site of mass graves from the 1920s-1940s. In the future, a large church complex is planned to be built on this site. The memory of the victims of repressions is supported by the Tomsk Society "Memorial", which in 1989 conducted the first excavations on Kashtachnaya and discovered the remains of those executed. The church will become a symbol of perpetuating the memory and the right to restore the history of thousands of innocent victims.

List of names:

Metropolitan of Tomsk and Asino - Rostislav

Head of the Tomsk Memorial Museum of the History of Political Repressions - Vasily Khanevich
Source: Publication Siberia.Realities from 12/17/2017 about the opening of the Temple of the New Martyrs
https://www.sibreal.org/a/28922684.html

Date of shooting: 13.07.2005
Author of the photo: unknown

A newspaper article about the fact that human remains continue to be found in Kashtak; about the creation of a special commission for reburial with the participation of city authorities, the prosecutor's office and members of the Tomsk Memorial Society; about excavations being carried out on October 6, 1994.

The press release informs about the upcoming opening of the Worship Cross on Kashtachnaya Gora, dedicated to the victims of Stalin's repressions. The idea of a memorial, including a cross, a chapel and a park, was initiated in the 90s and implemented by the efforts of the Tomsk city administration, with the support of public and religious figures. Kashtachnaya Gora, historically associated with tragic events, preserves the memory of thousands of those shot and buried. The memorial symbolizes memory, repentance, reminding people of the eternal.
List of names mentioned:

• Bishop of Tomsk and Asino Rostislav;
• Mayor of Tomsk Alexander Makarov;
• Poet Nikolai Klyuev;
• Philosopher Gustav Speth;
• Academician G.A. Ilyinsky;
• Prince Alexander Golitsyn;
• Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov;
• Princess Olga Urusova (Golitsyna);
• Saint Juvenaly, canonized in 1992.

Author of the story: Alexander Sakalov.

Source: https://youtu.be/w3HwRg98ld8?si=cYLhOfxXmLDyBmau
Note : The video was filmed at the request of V.A. Khanevich and the management of the Memorial Complex in Butovo.

The panoramic map of Tomsk was made by prof. Yu.P. Nagornov.

The following marks are applied to the drawing:

1. Correctional and detention department (transit prison).

2. "The Terrible Ravine"

3. Irkutsk tract

4. The road to the railway station (modern Vokzalnaya street)

5. "Red Barracks"

6. Ascension Church. Orthodox cemetery.

7. Chapel of St. Anthony. Catholic cemetery.

8. Water tower.

9. Modern Dalne-Klyuchevskaya street.

A report on the exhibition "Museum within a Museum", which took place in the Tomsk Museum "NKVD Investigative Prison" from February 14 to May 5, 2007.
The main exhibit of the exhibition was the project of a new museum in Tomsk – the Museum of the History of Political Repressions on Kashtak. The project of the museum was developed by the graduate of TSUACE, architect Sergei Badarkhanov and successfully defended in 2006 during the final exams, receiving high marks from TSUACE teachers and specialists – architects. The project is a whole socio-cultural complex: exhibition museum areas, a library, a cinema hall, and other cultural and social facilities, which are lacking in the microdistrict of the city, which has the status of a “bedroom” one.

Source: https://nkvd.tomsk.ru/exhibs/muz/

The case will include media publications for the period 2015-2024:

• 2024-05-04_NotMoscow: In Tomsk, the sites of mass executions of people during Stalin's repressions are drowning in garbage

A week after the installation of the columns, a paper signed by the consultant of the Department of Development and Land Use Control of the Administration of the Leninsky District of Tomsk, K. Kh. Akhtyamova, was attached to each column on the need to voluntarily dismantle the illegally placed object "a black wooden column with photographs of the repressed and the dates of their execution, installed on lands whose state property has not been demarcated." The deadline for voluntary dismantling was set until October 11, 2024.

The columns were not removed voluntarily.
The administration dismantled them on October 17, 2024.

We are chips, the forest is with us. Alexey Tarasov, Novaya Gazeta columnist

Our dead are being settled. They lie flat and cannot fight back - but this is an illusion. And this is the sublimation of civil war

Publication of "Novaya Gazeta". Among other things, Tomsk is mentioned: Tomsk Museum and the story of those shot at Kashtak.

The article covers the conflict around memorial columns with portraits of victims of Stalin's repressions, installed on Kashtachnaya Gora in Tomsk. The memorial signs, organized at the site of mass graves, contain images of people who died during the Great Terror. However, the city administration, citing the rules, ordered their removal. The public, including representatives of the descendants of the repressed, such as Vladimir Golitsyn and Maria Polivanova, are calling for the memorial columns to be preserved. The position was supported by historian and researcher Vasily Khanevich, who is ready to take on the approval of the installation of the memorials. The authorities proposed a compromise path to approval, which will allow the memorial signs to be preserved for the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression.

List of names in the publication:

Metropolitan of Tomsk and Asino - Rostislav

Granddaughter of philosopher Gustav Shpet - Maria Polivanova

Muscovite, descendant of a repressed person - Vladimir Golitsyn

Researcher of the history of repressions, keeper of memory - Vasily Khanevich

Date of shooting: ????

The original resolution is stored on the website of the Tomsk Region Administration:

https://tomsk.gov.ru/documents/front/view/id/37519

Approval date: 14.06.2012

Date of publication: 04/25/2018

Number: 226a

Type: Resolution

Executive authority:

Administration

The document saved here has been amended. Last modified: 18.01.2019 N 16a.

The card contains the resolution itself and a map with marked security zones (saved in 2015)

A newspaper article about how "cultured Tomsk sleeps in a graveyard". The history of the prison (transit lock - ITL-2 - pretrial detention center) on Pushkin Street and the history of executions are described.

The article mentions the names of those shot in Tomsk: poet Nikolai Klyuev, philosopher Gustav Shpet, Prince Alexander Golitsyn, holy martyr Juvenaly the Melodist, righteous Peter, Theodora and blessed Domna, Tomsk bishop Seraphim (Shamshev), princess Elizaveta Volkonskaya, princess Olga Urusova (Golitsyna), Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, hieromonk Nikita Shirinsky-Shikhmatov, Tomsk local historian Alexander Adrianov, St. Petersburg writer Herbert Zukkau, Abbess Anastasia (Nekrasova), rector of the Resurrection Church Nikolai Chistoserdov.
On projects for the construction of a memorial church and chapel on Kashtak. A project for a chapel proposed to be built at the intersection of Ilmer Street and Mira Avenue is presented.
"It would be good to put a church at the crossroads - although a place on the southern edge of the park, at the entrance to Kashtak, would also be suitable, so that the domes could be seen from afar. Well, and around the church-monument in the future it would be possible to expand the memorial complex - for example, to put slabs with the names of the repressed. <...> I would like to believe that already this year an account for donations for the church will be opened, the foundation stone will be consecrated and the foundation will be laid. According to Orthodox tradition, the initiators of the construction themselves also suggested the name of the future church. Very symbolic, kind and beautiful - in the name of the Angel of Good Silence."

Link to video: https://youtu.be/2LaY1ImTKVM?si=cGrI9_3Mc4i6-fUo