Memorial "Mass Grave of Soviet Soldiers"
General Information
Description
The memorial to the soldiers who fell during the Great Patriotic War consists of a dark granite slab engraved with the names of the fallen soldiers. The lettering is executed in gold embossing. The base of the slab is made of marble tile.
The obelisk currently standing on the mass grave of Soviet soldiers was erected in 2008 on the grounds of the park of the former “Rostovsky” sanatorium, where a military hospital was located. Previously, at least three obelisks made of non-durable materials had stood on this site during different periods.
Historical Background
The obelisk to the soldiers who perished in the battles for Rostov-on-Don was installed at the burial site of the wounded from hospitals located in Kamensk (Kamenka area), including on the territory of the Rostovsky Sanatorium. It is a monument to the soldiers of the 343rd and 353rd Rifle Divisions and two regiments of the 68th Cavalry Division who were killed in action or died from wounds. They were wounded in the fierce battles of October 1941 during the Battle of Rostov-on-Don. At the cost of enormous sacrifices, the German offensive was halted on October 20–28 near the village of Chaltyr. Failing to capture Rostov-on-Don with a strike from the west, the German command shifted the direction of the attack further north, into the sector of the 9th Army of the Southern Front.
Identified Buried:
- Belomestnov Andrey Petrovich (1906 – 22.10.1941, Red Army soldier)
- Vorobyov Nikolai Ivanovich (1922 – 22.07.1942, Red Army soldier)
- Dzhabayev Aidan (1910 – 22.07.1942, Red Army soldier)
- Ivanov Ivan Timofeevich (1903 – 22.07.1942, Red Army soldier)
- Kaev Asanariy Figorovich (? – 22.07.1942, Red Army soldier)
- Kuznetsov Andrey Fyodorovich (1899 – 22.07.1942, Red Army soldier)
- Miroshnikov Ivan Elizarovich (1901 – 22.10.1941, Red Army soldier)
- Petrov Deonisiy Petrovich (1898 – 26.10.1941, Lieutenant Colonel, Order of the Red Star)
- Perekhodov Vasily Vasilyevich (1904 – 22.10.1941, Red Army soldier)
- Simonenko Fyodor Yakovlevich (1913 – 22.10.1941, Red Army soldier)
- Skobelev Alexey Borisovich (1902 – 22.10.1941, Red Army soldier)
- Smagin Grigory Kirillovich (1901 – 22.10.1941, Red Army soldier)
- Tolstopyatov Andrey Emelyanovich (1903 – 22.10.1941, Red Army soldier).
Among the identified names of those buried here who perished in battle is that of Deonisiy Petrovich Petrov, Lieutenant Colonel, native of Leningrad. He was a career military officer, a participant in the Civil War. He served in the Red Army since 1918 and was awarded the Order of the Red Star in 1938. He commanded the 1149th Rifle Regiment of the 353rd Rifle Division, which was formed on October 17, 1941. He was killed in action on October 26, 1941.
In the area adjacent to this burial site, the entire ground was pockmarked with shell craters; the dead were also buried in these craters. According to preliminary data, about 3000 people are buried there, but the location of their graves is unknown; only this burial site with 200 people is known.
Near the hospital, there were supply trains with military personnel responsible for providing logistical support to the troops and military hospitals, and for transporting the wounded. According to a local resident’s account, 6 servicemen were sitting under a tree when an artillery barrage suddenly began, and all 6 were killed instantly by an exploding shell. Among them were Belomestnov (native of Stanitsa Vladimirovskaya, Labinsky District, Krasnodar Krai, resident of Stanitsa Apsheronskaya), Miroshnikov, Perekhodov (native and resident of Krasnodar Krai, Yeysk city, drafted by Yeysk Military Commissariat), Simonenko, Smagin, Tolstopyatov. It is known that Belomestnov, Miroshnikov, and Tolstopyatov were bakers of the 193rd Field Bakery of the 353rd Rifle Division; Perekhodov was a driver for this bakery.
Relatives of soldiers Miroshnikov and Tolstopyatov were found. They live in Yeysk and come to Rostov-on-Don every year on May 9 to honor the heroes and lay flowers.
Tolstopyatov Andrey Emelyanovich worked as a driver at a factory before the war. He lived near Yeysk in the settlement of Komsomolets, kolkhoz “Put k kommunizmu” (Path to Communism). He was arrested and spent a year in the Magadan Region. Drafted by Yeysk District Military Commissariat.
Miroshnikov Ivan Elizarovich was drafted in July 1941 by the Yeysk Military Commissariat. He had three daughters. Before the war, he worked as a construction superintendent building the House of the Red Army, then worked at the “Molot” (Hammer) factory, from where he was drafted. At the factory, now called Polygraphmash, a plaque with the names of workers who perished during the Great Patriotic War is installed; the memorial plaque also bears the name of Miroshnikov Ivan Elizarovich.
Memory preservation
The initiative to install the monument came from the military (Military Commissariat?). The first monuments were installed approximately in 1947, made of wood. Later, 2 graves were combined into one, the monument was updated – a concrete obelisk was erected, but the monument itself was moved about 30 meters away from the burial site. Some time later, a slab with the names of the buried was installed.
In the 1990s, the grave was neglected and overgrown. A group of concerned citizens – Ivan Kondrikov and his colleagues, court bailiffs – restored this grave and still maintain it to this day. Moreover, Ivan Kondrikov identified the names of the servicemen buried near this grave who were killed by an artillery shell.
Marina Fedorovna Burtseva found data on another 4 soldiers buried in this grave.
An application was submitted to expropriate the land under the memorial from private ownership. The land now belongs to the Administration of the Oktyabrsky District.
Currently, local residents also remember the burial site, come to tidy it up, and lay flowers on May 9th.