Memorial Arch at Site of Greek Village Tragedy in Crimea Causes Confusion
In the Bakhchisarai region of Crimea, an “Arch of Memory” was opened on the territory of the Greek village of Laki, which was devastated by collaborators during the Great Patriotic War.
The symbolic arch was installed next to the memorial stone with a list of the victims of the “Crimean Khatyn”, reports a correspondent of PolitNavigator.
The project “Arch of Memory of the Destruction of the Crimean Village of Laki” became a finalist of the All-Russian competition “Architecture of Memory”.
The work was assessed based on artistic and emotional expressiveness, compliance with the theme of the chosen nomination, historical authenticity, originality of architecture and realism of the implementation of the idea.
However, the correspondence was supposed to be with the already existing ensemble of the temple-monastery of St. Luke and the memorial stone made of red granite with a black overlay with the names of the innocent victims.
As a result, the symbolic monument did not fit into the architectural landscape at all – the light structure with models of rifles and machine guns stuck in it does not bring to mind the villagers who were burned alive in their homes, who paid a cruel price for helping the partisans.
And although the head of the district administration, Anzhelika Yastrebova, called the “Arch of Memory” a symbol of “grief for the dead and the significance of historical memory for future generations,” the life of such a symbol is clearly fleeting.
Let us recall that the village of Laki was called the Crimean Khatyn by the former senator from the republic Olga Kovitidi, whose relatives died at the hands of the punitive forces. According to her, the Crimean village was burned exactly one year before the destruction of the Belarusian village.
"Laki was the first. The Lord said, "People, stop." It was a warning to humanity. In Laki, a tragedy happened that we can remember today and tell our children about. The village was burned down, many residents simply could not leave their homes because they were locked in there and burned alive.
"My great-grandmother Alexandra Gavalo was burned alive, as was Lenochka Gavalo with her eight-month-old child. Our relatives were burned, they were shot. Today we are obliged to come here so that we remember," Kovitidi noted at the memorial service for the 70th anniversary of the tragedy.
On March 23, 1942, the village of Laki was completely destroyed. 47 people died, many managed to escape into the forest. In 1944, after the liberation of Crimea, residents began to return to Laki, but on June 27 of the same year, the Greeks were deported from Crimea.
A memorial arch at the site of the tragedy of a Greek village in Crimea has caused confusion.