Piatykhatky (Ukrainian: П'ятихатки; Russian: Пятихатки) is a village on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine.
On the territory of a pansionat for workers of the NKVD, children discovered hundreds of buttons of Polish officer uniforms that had risen to the surface. After investigation, a mass burial site was uncovered containing the remains of thousands of Polish Officers murdered during the Katyn massacre. Along with the remains of the Polish officers were also the remains of thousands of Ukrainian intellectuals murdered during the Stalinist purges of the 1930's, mainly in 1937-38.
A memorial complex () was built in memory of the Ukrainian intellectuals murdered by the Soviet secret police (the NKVD) in 1937-38, and also several thousand Polish officers in 1940, murdered during the Katyn massacre.
The site was funded by the Polish government and erected by the local population. It contains a bell set into the ground that chimes on the hour. Individual plaques for each of the Polish officers murdered at the site, including their name, rank and city of birth are laid out row after row after row.
The names of Ukrainian intellectuals, primarily Ukrainian writers, dramatists, musicians, professors, lecturers are carved into a memorial wall made of steel that is constantly rusting, giving the impression of constantly bleeding.
A peaceful and reflective site to contemplate the aftereffects of a brutal totalitarian regime.