Penza, 30 October 2012. PenzaNews. Meeting in memory of the victims of political repressions, organized by the members of the human rights organization “Memorial,” was held at the monument “Pokayanie” (Repentance) on Moskovskaya St in Penza on Tuesday, October 30. Over 100 people participated in the meeting – young activists and elderly people, for whom the years of Stalinist terror turned to be a personal tragedy.

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At the beginning of the event, the leader of the Penza branch of the human rights organization “Memorial” Tatiana Alferteva thanked all the participants for their attention to the victims of political repressions.

“The people who came today to the monument “Repentance” are responsible to the past. They do not believe it is possible to forget the victims, and they honor the history of the country,” she noted.

According to Tatyana Alferteva, during the years of repression many people were killed literally for nothing.

“The list of the names of the victims contains watchmen, housewives, beekeepers. I do not think those people can be called enemies of the country,” she underlined.

During the meeting, the names of over a thousand residents of the Penza region shot from 1918 to 1953 were read out loud.

The Day of commemoration of the victims of political repressions in Russia is celebrated annually on October 30 from 1991. On this day, some cities hold mourning ceremonies in memory of those killed and injured in the course of political repressions.