Kommunarka shooting ground

Kommunarka shooting ground. It was a clandestine execution and burial site used by the NKVD during the Great Purge in the late 1930s. Located in a forested area in Moscow Oblast near the former dacha of Genrikh Yagoda, it served as a primary killing field for victims from Moscow's prisons. The site remained a closely guarded state secret for decades until its rediscovery in the post-Soviet era.

History

The land originally belonged to the state farm "Kommunarka" and housed the personal estate of Genrikh Yagoda, the head of the NKVD. Following Yagoda's own arrest and execution in 1938 during the Great Purge, his property was confiscated by the state. The NKVD subsequently repurposed the surrounding forest as a secure execution ground, operating under the direct orders of Joseph Stalin and the Politburo. Its use coincided with the peak of the Yezhovshchina, the period most intensely associated with Nikolai Yezhov's leadership of the NKVD. The site functioned alongside the better-known Butovo firing range, forming part of a network of secret facilities administered by the NKVD in the Moscow region designed to dispose of victims efficiently and discreetly.

Victims and executions

Victims were transported from infamous Moscow prisons such as the Lubyanka, Lefortovo Prison, and the Butyrka prison. Those executed included high-ranking members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, military officers from the Red Army and Soviet Navy, scientists, cultural figures, and ordinary citizens caught in the terror. Notable individuals killed here include Christian Rakovsky, a former People's Commissar; Stanislav Kosior, a member of the Politburo; and Vlas Chubar, a deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. Executions were typically carried out with a pistol shot to the back of the head, following convictions by extrajudicial bodies like the NKVD troika and the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR.

Discovery and exhumations

The existence of the site was long rumored but remained concealed within the archives of the KGB. Its location was confirmed in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the efforts of the human rights organization Memorial. Researchers, including historians from Memorial and the Russian State Archive, gained access to previously classified documents and land records. Preliminary exhumations and geological surveys began, revealing numerous mass graves. The work of identifying victims continues slowly, relying on matching archival execution lists from the NKVD with physical evidence recovered from the site.

Memorialization

The territory is now owned by the Russian Orthodox Church, which established a monastery on the grounds. A memorial complex has been created, featuring crosses, plaques, and a chapel dedicated to the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. Annual remembrance ceremonies are held, often involving representatives from Memorial, the Russian Orthodox Church, and relatives of the victims. The site is recognized as a place of historical memory and is part of the broader effort to document the crimes of Stalinism, alongside memorials at the Butovo firing range and the Sandarmokh burial site in Karelia.

In popular culture

The tragedy of the site has been referenced in various Russian literary and cinematic works dealing with the Great Purge. It is mentioned in the context of historical documentaries about Joseph Stalin and the NKVD, such as those by filmmaker Vitaly Mansky. The site also figures in the works of writers like Alexander Solzhenitsyn, particularly in his seminal work on the Gulag, The Gulag Archipelago, which chronicled the vast network of Soviet repression. It serves as a potent symbol in contemporary discussions about historical memory and the legacy of political terror in Russia.

Category:Mass graves in Russia Category:Great Purge Category:NKVD Category:History of Moscow Oblast Category:Stalinist repression in the Soviet Union