Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Deportation of the Peoples of Crimea

Greeks, Tatars, Armenians and even Germans and Bulgarians took part in the settlement of the Crimean lands Their descendants fell into disgrace with the Soviet authorities and were illegally deported by the Soviet authorities on May 18, 1944 50 years after those tragic events that forever changed the history of Crimea, May 18 was declared the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Deportation of Crimea After Crimea became part of Russian territory, this holiday remained in the register of official holidays In May 1944, the Soviet army liberated the Crimean peninsula from the fascist occupiers Almost immediately, Stalin decided to liberate the territory from national minorities, who during the occupation could have become imbued with the spirit of fascism and therefore pose a danger In fact, his decision became the beginning of the genocide of an entire people On the basis of hastily fabricated charges, thousands of families were detained and began to be transported en masse in Stolypin carriages to their places of settlement The leading charges were desertion and aiding the occupiers The beginning of Stalin's repressions fell on May 18, active actions continued over the next three days, and in total the cleansing of the peninsula lasted until 1947 Tatar families suffered the most from the genocide; in total, more than 47 thousand families left their homes According to estimates, 238 thousand people were subjected to repression over the entire period The fate of the deportees was unenviable; the road was long and difficult, so not everyone was able to get to their places of settlement Those who managed to get there faced a difficult life: hunger, cold and disease continued to take their lives In total, almost 110 thousand people died over three years In 1967, the Soviet government admitted its mistakes and not only dropped the charges against the deported citizens and restored their civil rights, but also allowed them to return to their historical homeland The symbol of the memorial day for the victims of deportation was a blue ribbon, symbolizing a peaceful sky and mutual understanding between peoples On May 18, mourning memorial rallies are held throughout Crimea, in which public organizations, officials and local residents take part