Dem'ianiv Laz

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Coordinates: 48°56′35″N 24°40′07″E / 48.943075°N 24.6685°E / 48.943075; 24.6685

The memorial complex "Dem'ianiv Laz"

Dem'ianiv Laz (Ukrainian: Дем'янів Лаз) is a mass burial site of victims of NKVD executions committed in the wake of the German occupation of Stanisławów (modern Ivano-Frankivsk), Ukraine in 1941. At least 524 victims (including 150 women and some children) were buried in several mass graves in a small gorge outside of the city.

The mass murder site was located in the vicinity of a small village called Pasieczna, in a gorge called Demianów Łaz at the outskirts of Stanisławów (modern Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), in Soviet-occupied Poland. Some of the victims were killed in the infamous NKVD prison in Stanisławów, others were brough to the site in order to dig mass graves prior to their own execution.[1]

During World War II the site was discovered by the German forces. After the war, in the 1960s the Soviet authorities tried to bulldoze the area in order to cover all traces of the crime.[1] In 1970, following the Radio Liberty broadcast about Dem'ianiv Laz, the site's landscape was changed by heavy machinery to hinder any future attempts to excavate it. The cover-up continued almost until the end of the Soviet Union, as in 1984 and 1985 the site was further covered with rubble and debris of several demolished buildings.[2]

Despite these efforts, in 1989 remains of more than 500 men, women and children were uncovered during excavation performed by a local branch of the Memorial society. Only 22 victims were identified by name and all were Polish citizens of either Polish or Ukrainian ethnicity.[3] The memorial complex "Dem'ianiv Laz" was opened near the excavation site in 1998.

After the invasion in 1941, German authorities perpetrated another action against Polish intelligentsia. Czarny Las Massacre was committed several km away.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 (English) "Dem'yaniv Laz". A chronicle of the communist inquisition. Memorial Society. Retrieved 19 October 2011. 
  2. ↑ (Ukrainian) "Ющенко закликав пам'ятати про катів і знищувати "сатанинські символи"". News.ru. 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2011-10-19. 
  3. ↑ (Ukrainian) "ДЕМ'ЯНІВ ЛАЗ. МЕМОРІАЛ ЖЕРТВАМ СТАЛІНСЬКИХ РЕПРЕСІЙ". memorial.kiev.ua. Memorial. 2000. Retrieved 2011-10-19. 

See also

External links

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