25 February 2018, 09:21
Vainakh descendants report tragic fates of deportation victims
Participants in the memorial party for the victims of the Chechens' and Ingushes' deportation held in Saint Petersburg shared their relatives' memories about life in exile.
The operation under the coded name of "Chechevitsa" (lentils), during which nearly 500,000 people were evicted from Chechnya and Ingushetia to Kazakhstan and Central Asia, was held from February 23 to March 9, 1944. Mass desertions, evading the conscription at wartime and a preparation of an armed uprising in the Soviet rear were announced as the grounds for the deportation.
The commemoration party, organized by the socio-political association "Vainakh Congress", was held in Anna Akhmatova's Museum in the Fountain House on February 23. The event was attended by scientists and cultural figures – researchers, historians, painters, university students and high school pupils, Eles Askhabov, one of the organizers of the event, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The memorial party began with the screening of the documentary "Yakhya" directed by Khava Khazbieva. The film tells the fate of an athlete and judo coach Yakhya Mereshkov, who was deported when he was two years old.
After the deportation, he lost his parents within a year and a half – at first his mother, whom he even could not memorize; then, in six months – his father, and then, his grandmother, aunt and sister, Khava Khazbieva told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
"Neighbours gave the survivors, Yakhya and his sister, who was two years older, to the children's home. Their uncle, who found them after a while, stole them out of the orphanage and took them away to his house. The film presents the stories of Yakhya Mereshkov and his pupils – about his life, and how, in spite of everything, he became one of the leading coaches of Northern Caucasus and brought up a whole galaxy of masters of sports," the film author said.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Tatiana Gantimurova Source: CK correspondent
