Memorial to Romanian prisoners who died in Stalinist camps unveiled in Azerbaijan
The Romanian ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan, Vasile Soare, organized on October 22 in the city of Goygol a ceremony to unveil and consecrate a marble monument dedicated to Romanian prisoners of war and civilians who died in detention between 1944 - 1948 in the camps and special hospitals of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD, the main state security and law enforcement agency of the Soviet state, which operated between 1934 and 1946) on the territory of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.
The event took place at the Khanlar-1 Cemetery, some 400 kilometers from the capital Baku, in the presence of the Head of Executive Power of the Goygol District, Elvin Pashayev, local officials, representatives of the academic and cultural environment, as well as numerous locals.
The ceremony was organized in the lead-up to Romanian Army Day (celebrated on October 25) and the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The religious service to consecrate the monument and commemorate the Romanian prisoners was officiated by Father Stefan Stanciu from Bucharest, according to Orthodox tradition.
'It is our duty to do everything so that these people do not pass into oblivion. Their memory must be recovered and duly honored,' ambassador Vasile Soare wrote on Facebook.
During the event, the Romanian diplomat presented historical and archival data on the existence of prison camps in the Kirovabad-Khanlar area, where thousands of foreign soldiers and civilians - including over 2,000 Romanians - were interned and used in industrial construction and infrastructure works.
According to the diplomat's research, 169 Romanian prisoners died in detention and were buried in several cemeteries in the Goygol-Ganja area, as well as in the towns of Mingachevir and Sheki.
The monument unveiled in Goygol is the 37th memorial dedicated to Romanian prisoners in the former Soviet space, and was created with the involvement of ambassador Vasile Soare, after those erected in Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.
The authorities of the Goygol district have announced that they will continue to respectfully preserve the burial sites of foreign prisoners of war, including Romanians. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mariana Ionescu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)
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