Laki - Crimean Khatyn. Village of Laki - partisan Khatyn of Crimea Laki Monastery of Crimea how to get there

In any city of Crimea, friendly people sit under bright umbrellas and offer to go on excursions: cave cities, palaces of the South Coast, botanical gardens, parks and beaches, horseback riding... And today we went where no bus with tourists goes.

Eight kilometers from the highway

Of course, the route is non-trivial. You need to get to Bakhchisarai, at the bus station choose a bus - for example, to, - that would go to the village. Everyone here knows each other: three visitors who naively bought tickets at the box office are identified instantly by the controller. The rest, squabbling in a friendly manner, pay their fare on the spot. Then you need to jump out on time: no one announces the stops on these small buses.

And having jumped out, you can walk along the highway, and from the very beginning you can lift your head in admiration: the Crimean mountains are all around. Caves, springs. Occasionally you will see a sign near an unremarkable cave: the site of an ancient man, the Mesolithic, for example, centuries ago. Maybe archaeologists found something special here, but now it’s just a stone canopy.

We walked through, which we will talk about later. If you walk for a long time along the highway along the Kacha River, then someday you will come across a turn sign and the inscription: Laki - 8 km. We had to walk these kilometers along a white chalk road, quite passable for an SUV...

Road to the ruined temple

However, we did not have to walk these eight kilometers alone. First, a short and joyful summer rain came with us. We were still thoroughly frozen, and white streams flowed along the road. And then the rain stopped, and a truck caught up with us. It's scary to think what kind of dust it would have raised if it hadn't been for the rain. The driver stopped: not only was he the first person we saw on this road in almost an hour of travel, but we were also the first people he met. So he invited us into the car: he also needed to go to Lucky. Both girls fit into the cab, and the young man jumped into the back. We squinted as branches lashed the glass, and the guy in the back performed a complex dance, dodging their wet blows.

And around the next bend is a temple. Its silhouette immediately reminds of Byzantium. However, both the dome and the bell tower were badly damaged. On the barrier branch blocking the entrance there is a sign: “Skete in the name of the Apostle and Evangelist Luke. Entry with blessing." Among the residents, only two small black pigs are visible so far. We say goodbye to the driver and unpack our cameras. We go around the temple.

Birds of the air and grasses of the earth

Grass grows in the temple and birds build nests. There is a dead chick in the porch. On the lectern made of bricks in the center there is an icon of the Savior. In the altar there is a brick Altar and a large wooden cross. Naturally, there is no iconostasis. The candlesticks are boards with drilled holes, already pretty burnt. Next to the candles, carefully covered with foil on the table, is a donation box.

Frescoes have been preserved in some places. On the sails are images of the symbols of the evangelists. The face of an angel is visible; the lion stands out most clearly. “The real Aslan,” we exclaim. The rest is ornaments.

Crimean Khatyn

The village of Laki is Greek. In the vicinity of the village there are remains of the Church of St. Trinity, erected at the beginning of the 15th century. And not far from it are the ruins of an even more ancient temple with the remains of a cemetery. On one of the tombstones there is an inscription dating back to 1362. It had its own little world here all the time. The villagers were not particularly interested in the events that took place further than Mount St. Ilya, towering above Laki. People grew excellent tobacco and grapes, raised livestock, and raised children.

But peaceful life in Russia of the twentieth century is a short-lived and relative matter. The Great Patriotic War did not spare either Crimea as a whole or the small Greek village.

On March 23, 1942, the village of Laki was captured by Nazi punitive forces and destroyed. Why did they burn this particular village? Why were the Nazis so merciless towards its residents? Historian Panteleimon Kesmedzhi in his book “Greeks of Crimea” cites the words of the commander of the Bakhchisarai partisan detachment, Mikhail Andreevich Makedonsky, later the commander of the Southern Unit of the Crimean partisan detachments. He says that his detachment owed its existence to the residents of Laki, who provided assistance to the partisans with food, clothing, and in the cold they provided accommodation. There were many other villages around, but in each of them lived at least a few traitors, and in Laki everyone supported the pre-war government, there was a village council, on the building of which a red flag defiantly fluttered. The village was difficult to access, especially during floods. That is why the village was not controlled by the Nazis for a long time.

A witness to the destruction of the rebellious village was Yuri Mikhailovich Spai, the nephew of Nikolai Konstantinovich Spai, the legendary intelligence officer of the Karasubazar partisan detachment, who carried out special assignments from the central headquarters. Nikolai Spai was betrayed as a traitor and hanged by the Nazis.

Yuri Mikhailovich Spai then, in 1942, was a thirteen-year-old boy. “When the Nazis defeated the partisan detachment, those who remained alive came to our village. On March 23, 1942, the village was surrounded by Germans and volunteers - Crimean Tatars from the punitive battalion, says Yuri Spai. “All the residents were gathered in front of the village council and searched. Apparently, the Germans received a denunciation, because, despite the fact that they did not find anything suspicious, more than thirty men were immediately driven aside. Among them were my uncle and two brothers. I, then still a naive teenager, came up and asked: “Uncle Mitya, why are you here?” And he answered me in Greek, so that the Tatars would not understand: “Yura, leave, otherwise they will kill you too. We are being led to execution." This cannot be forgotten...”

The village was set on fire, dogs barked loudly, and people panicked. The fire destroyed all 87 households. Those who survived, including Yuri Spai, accompanied by Crimean Tatar volunteers, were sent through Bakhchisarai to Oktyabrskoye.

After the liberation of Crimea, many of those Greeks received housing in Bakhchisarai. It would seem that life began to get better. But only a month of respite was provided by fate to these people. In the summer of 1944, the Greeks were expelled from Crimea.

Temple on the Ashes

The Germans, in their indignant anger, decided to wipe Laki off the face of the earth. All the houses, warehouses, farm, and club were destroyed and burned. The punitive forces were unable to destroy only the church. Beautiful church of St. Evangelista Luke, which the villagers rebuilt on the site of the old one in 1904, still stands today. Nowhere in Crimea is there a temple like this. It is unique not only for its architecture. He is individual in his spirit.

We silently walk around him. Standing opposite the altar, I see a rather large snake crawling into the window outside. Our guide confidently calls it: yellow-bellied snake (a non-venomous but aggressive snake), and comes closer. The snake rushes into the gap where the helpless chick sits. On the edge of the dome-less wall, a bird is darting, also familiar to our friend: a redstart. Today she is truly in grief.

“I never thought I would see this. Snakes in the temple. The asp is in the apse,” our guide sighs. We immediately remember that he studied to be an artist. Who else knows that the semicircular altar part of the temple is called the apse... The snake crawls inside, and we think that the grass on the walls of churches that has become criminally familiar to us with snakes in the altar, perhaps, cannot be compared in any way.

Native silence

The valley where the village of Laki is located is very quiet. Bees and flies buzz, the wind barely rustles the leaves, we step on the grass. But all this does not break the silence.

I have the idea that our friend today not only took us through one of the less famous ones, but also shared with us a part of himself, the most precious thing that was in his heart.

March 23, 1942 is the last day of life in the village of Laki, Bakhchisaray district. After this date - only ashes, only the ruins of the church, only the memory of those who lived in the village...

N. Agakhova, “Crimean Truth”

Photo

Valery BORISOV

March 23 marks the 74th anniversary of the destruction of the Greek partisans by fascist punitive forces and their minions - “hivi” from the village of Koush villages of Laki in the Bakhchisarai region. This punitive action was carried out in 1942 and will always remain in the memory of generations both as a cruel act of genocide and as an indelible stain of shame lying on the executioners who carried it out.

The first settlement from which one of the most inhumane forms of genocide in Crimea began to be implemented - the burning of settlements with civilian populations - was a workers' settlementChairin the Bakhchisarai region, destroyedFebruary 4, 1942.The second place was the village of Laki. In the village of Chair and the village of Laki, punitive forces honed the practice of subsequently destroying dozens of settlements in Crimea with its inhabitants.

Capture and destruction

The story of the death of the village of Laki is described in sufficient detail. Let us remember her once again on this memorable day...

But why did they burn this particular village? Why were the Nazis so merciless towards its residents?

Historian Panteleimon Kesmedzhi in the book “Greeks of Crimea” he quotes the words of the commander of the Bakhchisarai partisan detachment Mikhail Andreevich Makedonsky, later - commander of the Southern Unit of partisan detachments of the Crimea. He says that his detachment owed its existence to the residents of Laki, who provided assistance to the partisans with food, clothing, and in the cold they provided accommodation. There were many other villages around, but in each of them lived at least a few traitors - and in Laki everyone supported the pre-war government, there was a village council, on the building of which a red flag defiantly fluttered.

Yuri witnessed the destruction of the rebellious village Mikhailovich Spai, nephew of Nikolai Konstantinovich Spai, the legendary intelligence officer of the Karasubazar partisan detachment... Then, in 1942, he was a thirteen-year-old boy...

“On March 23, 1942, the village was surrounded by the Germans and Crimean Tatar volunteers from the punitive battalion,” says Yuri Spai. “All the residents were gathered in front of the village council and searched. Apparently, the Germans received a denunciation... More than thirty men were immediately driven aside. Among them were my uncle and two brothers. I, then still a naive teenager, came up and asked: “Uncle Mitya, why are you here?” And he answered me in Greek, so that the Tatars would not understand: “Yura, leave, otherwise they will kill you too. We are being taken to be shot.” This cannot be forgotten..."

The village was set on fire, dogs barked loudly, and people panicked. The Tatars did all the dirty work. Aunt Yuri Mikhailovich was tied to the bed, and her eight-month-old child was thrown into the fire like a rag. The woman screamed until the burning roof collapsed on her. The fire destroyed all 87 households. Those who survived, including Yuri Spai, accompanied by Crimean Tatar volunteers, were sent through Bakhchisarai..." to the village of Biyuk-Onlara (now the village of Oktyabrskoye).

“This will happen to everyone who acts against the Germans”

Thanks to the declassified archives of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was possible to find out one previously unknown page in the history of the destruction of this village. From the interrogation protocol of the senior translator of the Sevastopol branch of the SD, Obidova-Khalilova, dated October 14, 1947, it was established that “in the summer of 1943, Mayer (chief of the German security service in Sevastopol, SS Sturmsharführer. - auto) was called to Simferopol with a team of Tatar volunteers. Upon his return (...) Mayer told me that, on the instructions of the Obersturmbannführer of the CAPP (...) the commander of the police and security service of the Crimea (...) and with his direct participation, Mayer, for assisting the partisans, they shot all the residents of the village of Laki, Bakhchisarai region, and the village was burned to the ground .

Tatar volunteers Mamedov Aider Seid Ali and Mamedov Belyal told me about this in more detail. They said that in addition to them, other SS units were brought into the village of Laki, whose soldiers snatched small children from the hands of women and threw them into burning huts.

In front of the old people, soldiers of the SS units shot their sons and daughters (so, by giving such testimony, the Tatar punitives saved their own skins by blaming their accomplices for the crimes - auto.). After exterminating the entire population and burning the village, the Germans nailed up shields all around with the inscription in German and Russian: (...) “This will happen to everyone who acts against the Germans.”(Investigation case No. 234 on charges of German war criminals: 1. Yenikke Erwin ... and others in the amount of 12 people in the crime provided for in Part 1 of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 19, 1943. Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Sevastopol. October- November 1947. Before the reunification of Crimea with Russia - Archive of the Main Directorate of the SBU of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.d.2262.Vol.1.L.21).

Don't let the memory of the past bother you?

But what about the situation now with perpetuating the memory of the tragedy of the partisan village of Laki and the partisan village of Chair in the Bakhchisarai region? District officials do not hold the memory of these “Khatyns” in high esteem. They were not just forgotten, it seems that The authorities are deliberately hushing them up! Thus, the Bakhchisaray district council and the district administration, the organizers of the round table held on December 11, 2015 in the Bakhchisaray district administration, in its title - “72nd anniversary of the tragedy of the villages of the Bakhchisaray region burned by the Nazis during the Second World War ...” chronologically excluded the destruction of the settlements of Chair (February 4, 1942 ) and Lucky (March 23, 1942), shifting the start of Hitler's punitive actions a year later.

That's right - 73rd anniversary! And the editors of the regional newspaper “Glory to Labor” repeated this mistake in two publications and categorically refused (!) to correct it in response to comments received from historians - just like the Bakhchisaray District Council.

This year, commemorative days of the death of these settlements were not celebrated at the district level, and no official events were organized. No information about the existence of such memorable days of the partisan villages of Chair and the village of Laki was published in the ideological mouthpiece of the region - the newspaper “Glory to Labor” and other media in the region - was not published.

It turns out that for Bakhchisarai officials there is no place in history for the partisan “Khatyns” destroyed by the Nazis?

This conclusion also corresponds to the fact that on the memorable day of the burning of the village of Chair - February 4 - in the lobby of the Bakhchisaray district council and the district administration, an exhibition was opened dedicated to the destruction during the Great Patriotic War... of the village of Sinapnoe (formerly Ulu-Sala), which occurred December 22, 1943. Who benefits from such a defiant juxtaposition of two tragedies with the suppression of the dramatic history of the village of Chair?

Inconvenient questions for officials

By Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea dated May 18, 2011 No. 369-6/11, the territory of the former Greek village of Laki in the Bakhchisarai region was declared a cultural and historical monument of local significance “Village of Laki” and specific instructions for its implementation were given to the Council of Ministers of Crimea, the Bakhchisarai District State Administration with deadlines for their implementation.

Five years have passed. Question to the first officials of the Republic of Crimea and the Bakhchisarai region: how is this resolution implemented? A no way! No one of the points of this resolution has not been fulfilled.

Is the creation of the cultural and historical monument “Village of Laki” included in the draft territorial development scheme for the Republic of Crimea being developed? – According to the documents that are posted on the Internet, No!

Is the cultural and historical monument “Village of Laki” included in the draft territorial development scheme for the Bakhchisarai region of the Republic of Crimea and in the developed Strategy for the socio-economic development of the Bakhchisarai region for the period until 2030? – No!

And one more fact. In the Bakhchisarai region, for the first time in the Russian Federation (at the district level), the first edition of the Military-Historical Calendar of the Bakhchisarai District was developed, which until recently was published in parts in the newspaper “Glory to Labor”. And now, for inexplicable reasons, this publication has stopped...

This is how the State Program “Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation for 2016-2020”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2015 No. 1493, is being implemented in the Bakhchisarai region.

Monument to the fallen residents of the partisan village of Laki

For all honest people and patriots of Russia

The tragic death of the partisan village of Laki March 23, 1942- not only a symbol of eternal grief and sadness for the victims, but also a symbol of valor, courage, heroism, unbroken spiritual strength, pride in our heroic ancestors, the people’s hard-fought victory over fascism. And no amount of bureaucratic opposition from officials will erase the memory of our great history.

Honorary citizen of the city of Bakhchisarai

(Crimea News) March 23 marks the 74th anniversary of the destruction of the Greek partisan village of Laki in the Bakhchisarai region by fascist punitive forces and their minions - “hivi” from the village of Koush. This punitive action was carried out in 1942 and will always remain in the memory of generations both as a cruel act of genocide and as an indelible stain of shame lying on the executioners who carried it out.

The first settlement from which one of the most inhuman forms of genocide in Crimea began to be implemented - the burning of settlements with a civilian population, was the working village of Chair in the Bakhchisarai region, destroyed February 4, 1942. The second place was the village of Laki. In the village of Chair and the village of Laki, punitive forces honed the practice of subsequently destroying dozens of settlements in Crimea with its inhabitants.

Capture and destruction

The story of the death of the village of Laki is described in sufficient detail. Let us remember it again on this memorable day: “Why did they burn this particular village? Why were the Nazis so merciless towards its residents?” Historian Panteleimon Kesmedzhi in his book “Greeks of Crimea” cites the words of the commander of the Bakhchisarai partisan detachment, Mikhail Andreevich Makedonsky, later the commander of the Southern Unit of the Crimean partisan detachments. He says that his detachment owed its existence to the residents of Laki, who provided assistance to the partisans with food, clothing, and in the cold they provided accommodation. There were many other villages around, but in each of them lived at least a few traitors, and in Laki everyone supported the pre-war government, there was a village council, on the building of which a red flag defiantly fluttered.

A witness to the destruction of the rebellious village was Yuri Mikhailovich SPAI, nephew of Nikolai Konstantinovich SPAI, the legendary scout of the Karasubazar partisan detachment... Then, in 1942, he was a thirteen-year-old boy... “On March 23, 1942, the village was surrounded by Germans and volunteers - Crimean Tatars from the punitive battalion, - Yuri Spai says. “All the residents were gathered in front of the village council and searched. Apparently, the Germans received a denunciation... more than thirty men were immediately driven aside. Among them were my uncle and two brothers. I, then still a naive teenager, came up and asked: “Uncle Mitya, why are you here?” And he answered me in Greek, so that the Tatars would not understand: “Yura, leave, otherwise they will kill you too. We are being led to execution." This cannot be forgotten..."

The village was set on fire, dogs barked loudly, and people panicked. All the “dirty” work was done by the Tatars. Aunt Yuri Mikhailovich was tied to the bed, and her eight-month-old child was thrown into the fire like a rag. The woman screamed until the burning roof collapsed on her. The fire destroyed all 87 households. Those who survived, including Yuri Spai, accompanied by Crimean Tatar volunteers, were sent through Bakhchisaray..." to the village of Biyuk-Onlara (now the village of Oktyabrskoye https://www.krimoved.crimea.ua/region5.html) .

“This will happen to everyone who acts against the Germans”

Thanks to the declassified archives of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was possible to find out one previously unknown page in the history of the destruction of this village. From the interrogation protocol of the senior translator of the Sevastopol branch of the SD, OBIDOVA-KHALILOVA, dated October 14, 1947, it was established that “in the summer of 1943, MAYER (chief of the German security service in Sevastopol, SS Sturmsharführer. - Author) was called to Simferopol with a team of Tatar volunteers. Upon his return (...) MAYER told me that, on the instructions of Obersturmbannführer CAPP (...) the commander of the police and security service of the Crimea (...) and with his direct participation, MAYER, for assisting the partisans, they shot all the residents of the village of Laki, Bakhchisarai district, and the village was burned to the ground tla.

Tatar volunteers Mamedov Aider Seid Ali and Mamedov Belyal told me about this in more detail. They said that besides them, more SS units were gathered in the village of Laki, whose soldiers snatched small children from the hands of women and threw them into burning huts. In front of the old people, soldiers of the SS units shot their sons and daughters (so, giving such testimonies, the punitive Tatars saved their own skins by blaming their accomplices for the crimes. Auto.).After exterminating the entire population and burning the village, the Germans nailed up shields all around with the inscription in German and Russian: (...) “This will happen to everyone who acts against the Germans.”(Investigation case No. 234 on charges of German war criminals: 1. Yenikke Erwin ... and others in the amount of 12 people in the crime provided for in Part 1 of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 19, 1943. Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Sevastopol. October- November 1947. Before the reunification of Crimea with Russia - Archive of the Main Directorate of the SBU of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.d.2262.Vol.1.L.21).

Don't let the memory of the past bother you?

But what about the situation now with perpetuating the memory of the tragedy of the partisan village of Laki and the partisan village of Chair in the Bakhchisarai region? District officials do not hold the memory of these “khatyns” in high esteem. They were not just forgotten, it seems that THE AUTHORITIES CONSCIOUSLY SILENCE THEM! Thus, the Bakhchisaray district council and the district administration, the organizers of the round table held on December 11, 2015 in the Bakhchisaray district administration, in its title - “72nd anniversary of the tragedy of the villages of the Bakhchisaray region burned by the Nazis during the Second World War...” chronologically excluded the destruction of the settlements of Chair (February 4, 1942 ) and Lucky (March 23, 1942), shifting the start of Hitler's punitive actions a year later. That's right - 73rd anniversary!!! And the editors of the regional newspaper “Glory to Labor” repeated this mistake in two publications, and categorically refused (!) to correct it in response to comments received from historians, just like the Bakhchisarai regional council.

This year, commemorative days of the death of these settlements were not celebrated at the district level, no official events were organized. There was no information about the existence of such commemorative days of the partisan villages of Chair and the village of Laki in the ideological mouthpiece of the region - the newspaper “Glory to Labor” and other media in the region — was not published.

It turns out that for Bakhchisarai officials there is no place in history for the partisan khatyns destroyed by the Nazis? This conclusion also corresponds to the fact that on the memorable day of the burning of the village of Chair - February 4 - in the lobby of the Bakhchisarai district council and district administration they opened an exhibition dedicated to the destruction during the Great Patriotic War... of the village of Sinapnoe (formerly Ulu-Sala), which occurred on 22 December 1943. Who benefits from such a defiant juxtaposition of two tragedies with the suppression of the dramatic history of the village of Chair?

Inconvenient questions for officials

Five years have passed. Question to the first officials of the Republic of Crimea and the Bakhchisarai region: how is this resolution implemented? NO WAY!!! None of the points of this resolution have been implemented.

Is the implementation of the cultural and historical monument “Village of Laki” included in the developed Strategy for the socio-economic development of the Bakhchisarai region for the period until 2030? - NO!!!

For all honest people and patriots of Russia

Honored Architect of the Republic of Crimea, Honorary Citizen of the city of Bakhchisarai V. N. BORISOV

Partner news

Relevance: While planning the expedition route, information about the village of Laki was discovered on the Internet by accident and the fate of this village attracted us not so much with the tragic history of the execution of residents in the Great Patriotic War, but with its post-war history and abandonment, as well as the symbolism of the surviving church of St. Luke.

Target: To trace the tragic history of life in the village (Laki) Goryanka.

Tasks:

Study literary sources

Organize a radial exit to the village of Goryanka during the spring expedition in Crimea.

Try to find out why the authorities treated this village so cruelly - they completely destroyed it, not even leaving the foundations of the houses.

Find out what is happening now at the site of the disappeared village (take photographs, talk to people) and what its prospects are.

Collect material for inclusion in a guide to the holy places of Crimea

Methods:

Searching for information on the Internet

Observation

Photographing

Conversation with local residents

Village Laki (Goryanka)

And today the elderly man is offended that “they dug up everything, without even leaving the foundations - witnesses to the tragedy. They did this, probably, so that no one else would ask where the people went.” There is not enough money to install a worthy monument to the Orthodox Greeks.

It is a miracle that the rural church, despite all the cataclysms of the difficult twentieth century, survived. Church of St. Evangelista Luke was built by village residents in 1904 on the site of an old wooden church from the 16th century. Above the main entrance is the date “year 1904” and an inscription in modern Greek, the words of Christ: “Come (to me) all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give (you) rest.” The altar, dome, and bell tower were damaged, but the frescoes were preserved. Inside the temple you can see the remains of fresco painting: images of the holy evangelists. Evangelist Matthew is depicted as an angel, as a symbol of the messianic mission to the world of the Son of God. Evangelist Mark is symbolized by a lion in commemoration of the power and royal dignity of Christ. The images of the evangelists John and Luke and their symbols of the eagle, signifying the height of evangelical teaching, and the calf, emphasizing the sacrificial atoning ministry of the Savior, are barely distinguishable.

This is a memorial temple, its wounded vaults seem to support the souls of burnt people. Neither the Bolsheviks, nor the Germans, nor the atheists could destroy the temple. He stood to bring to us the sadness and tragedy of the Greek village of Laki.

The story of the final disappearance of the village

After the forced expulsion of the Crimean Tatars from the territory of the peninsula, it was the turn of other national groups. May 29, 1944 People's Commissar of Internal Affairs L.P. Beria reported to I.V. To Stalin: “After the eviction of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea, work continues to identify and seize the anti-Soviet element, combing, etc. by the NKVD of the USSR. On the territory of Crimea, 12,075 Bulgarians, 14,300 Greeks, 9,919 Armenians are counted” (in 1939 Among the inhabitants of the peninsula there were: Bulgarians 15,353 - 1.4% of the total population, Greeks 20,652 - 1.8%, Armenians 12,873 - 1.1%1). Beria reported the following about the Greeks: “The Greek population lives in most regions of Crimea. A significant part of the Greeks, especially in coastal cities, took up trade and small industry with the arrival of the invaders. The German authorities assisted the Greeks in trade, transportation of goods, etc.” That's all the “accusations”!

Beria’s conclusion was as follows: “The NKVD considers it advisable to evict all Bulgarians, Greeks, and Armenians from the territory of Crimea.” This also applied to partisans, underground fighters, and people who had not at all tainted themselves by collaborating with the occupiers. June 2, 1944 I.V. Stalin signs Resolution of the State Defense Committee No. 5984, according to which the NKVD obliged “in addition to the eviction of the Crimean Tatars from the territory of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic 37 thousand people according to the State Defense Committee Resolution No. 5859ss of May 11, 1944.” German accomplices from among the Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians,” who “send for resettlement in agriculture, in subsidiary plots and in industrial enterprises of the following regions and republics: Guryev region. Kazakh SSR - 7000 people, Sverdlovsk region. - 10,000 people, Molotov region. - 10,000 people, Kemerovo region. - 6000 people, Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - 4000 people.” In April 1944, residents had already begun to return to Laki, but on June 27 of the same year, Crimean Greeks were deported to Central Asia and the Urals.

The operation to evict Bulgarians, Greeks, Armenians, and foreign nationals took place on June 27, 1944. People were given several hours to get ready, and then they were sent to unknown lands in freight cars at gunpoint. On July 4, Beria reported to Stalin that the eviction of Tatars, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Armenians from Crimea was completed. A total of 225,009 people were evicted, including 183,155 Tatars, 12,422 Bulgarians, 15,040 Greeks, 9,621 Armenians, 1,119 Germans, 3,652 foreigners. “There were no incidents during the eviction operation on the ground or along the way.” The situation of the special settlers, especially in the early years, was extremely difficult. They often had to live in unsuitable premises, have poor food, suffer from illnesses, etc. The result is high mortality. From the moment of initial settlement in new places until October 1, 1948, the mortality rate of the Crimean contingent (those expelled from the peninsula of all nationalities) was 6.8 times higher than the birth rate. For 1945-1950 Of the special Crimean settlers, 32,107 people died.

Official website of the pilgrimage department of the Simferopol and Crimean diocese.http://www.palomnik.crimea.ua/

Serman B. “Mountain Woman.” Newspaper “Crimean Truth”, 09/26/1963 http://koechto-o.narod.ru/pages/articles/books/zakaldaev_track/route8.html

Updated: Aug 2, 2013

The silence that reigns in the Laki Valley fascinates with its depth and some unique feature. It seems that I have never encountered such silence anywhere else.

Trees do not creak under the pressure of the wind, birds do not sing. Even the bees, those tireless workers, do not scurry from flower to flower. Only scarlet poppies, spread out on a huge field, slightly sway their buds.

There is silence all around. It seems that everything around has frozen in a state of indescribable grief for the events that happened here 60 years ago.

In the old days, Listrigons lived on this land. This is the name given to the descendants of Greek colonists. Not far from the village were located the Church of the Holy Trinity and an ancient temple, built in the 15th century. Now there is little left of them. Among the half-erased cemetery located near the temple, tombstones have been preserved, one of which has an inscription dating back to 1362. Local residents can be proud that they are descendants of the Theodorites, a people who have lived in Crimea since ancient times and earned respect in the surrounding lands.

At all times, the village of Laki lived separately. Residents had little interest in the events of the big world, preferring to deal with pressing matters. Here they raised cattle, grew grapes, and took care of children. There were several family dynasties in the village with beautiful surnames Arvanidi and Leli.

But in the winter of 1942, the Germans came to visit Vladimir Lely, the chairman of the Neo Zoi collective farm. From that moment on, grief came to Lucky. The Nazis completely destroyed the village. All buildings were destroyed, everything that could be destroyed or burned. Only the church did not allow itself to be completely destroyed. The Church of St. Luke the Evangelist still stands.

This temple is unique in its architecture and unique in its internal atmosphere. In the temple one can feel the presence of the souls of people who died during that cruel time. The temple is located on a hillock, surrounded by a wall of weeds in the form of wormwood, sorrel and nettle. The dome of the bell tower was destroyed and what remained of it were stone blocks in front of the entrance to the temple. The altar was completely destroyed, but frescoes remained on the walls. In some places you can see images of an eagle or a lion, the faces of saints and angels. Unfortunately, in some places the frescoes are defaced with inscriptions from vandals.

60 years have passed since the tragedy, but people still do not forget the terrible events and details of the destruction of the village of Laki. In the place where the houses stood there is now a field. Only the church and the monument remind that there was a village here and the Greeks lived in it until trouble came to their house.

The village of Laki was captured and destroyed on March 23, 1942. Why did this happen to this particular village? If we turn to the historian Panteleimon Kesmedzhi, in his book “Greeks of Crimea” he cites the words of the commander of the partisan detachment of Macedonian Mikhail Andreevich. According to him, the Bakhchisaray partisan detachment, which he commanded, received solid support from the residents of the village of Laki. The soldiers of the detachment were helped with food and provided with clothing. There were many other villages in the vicinity, but in almost all of them there were traitors who were ready to hand over the detachment to the fascist punitive forces. In the village of Laki, residents supported Soviet power; a red flag flew fearlessly and proudly on the building of the Village Council. For helping the partisans, the Germans shot more than thirty men; women and children were burned along with their houses. 87 households were burned. But not everyone died. Those who were lucky enough to survive were transported to the village of Oktyabrskoye.

The Greek people remember those terrible events and honor the memory of those killed. Every year, on March 23, Greeks come to lay flowers at the monument and pay tribute to the memory of the dead. The only pity is that nothing remains from the village of Laki, not even the foundations.