NKVD prisoner massacre in Tartu
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On July 9, 1941, 193 detainees were shot in Tartu prison and the Gray House courtyard by the Soviet NKVD; their bodies were dumped in makeshift graves and in the prison well.[1] [2]
History[]
The victims of the communist repressions of the summer 1941 were detained in Tartu prison. During the last days of June, 1941, there were 619 prisoners. As the German army approached, steps were taken to empty the prison, but as the arrests continued, on 8 July 1941 there were still 223 detainees. Thus, on a meeting of the Estonian Communist Party Tartu region committee on the demand of the local security leader Alfred Pressman (1894–1973) and with the consent of the Estonian NKVD Tartu district leader Pavel Afanasjev (1903–1941) and the Communist Party secretary Abronov, it was decided to execute the prisoners.[3]
Executioners[]
Out of the six murderers, four were ethnic Estonians, one was Peipsi area Russian. The most notable among them was the local Komsomol activist and later Thaw era deputy minister of interior of the Estonian SSR (1920–1973).
References[]
- ^ Steenie Harvey, "The Dark Side of Tartu", at ExpatExchange.com
- ^ Museum of KGB Cells
- ^ Antoniuse Õue verine punaminevik
- 1941 in Estonia
- July 1941 events
- Massacres in the 1940s
- Political repression in the Soviet Union
- Tartu
- Massacres in the Soviet Union
- Massacres in Estonia
- NKVD
- Soviet World War II crimes
- Massacres committed by the Soviet Union
- Mass murder in 1941