The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people has initiated a project to create a monument to the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatars. Work on it is underway, and the location is being discussed, said the head of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, in an interview with Suspilne, UNN reports .
Details
According to Chubarov, Ukraine experienced "two terrible tragedies of universal proportions" - the Holodomor of the early 1930s and the deportation, i.e. the total expulsion of the Crimean Tatar people from their homeland and almost half a century, 45 years, of their forced detention in places of exile.
The head of the Mejlis noted that he would like everyone in Ukrainian society to realize the depth of the catastrophe, so that those who see this monument realize the Crimean Tatar tragedy as part of Ukrainian history, a tragedy that should unite for the future of Ukraine.
"It is very important that we never repeat what almost destroyed our peoples. So, this monument should make everyone realize that such horrific crimes against humanity as the Holodomor, as the Holocaust, as the surgeons - deportations - should never be repeated," Chubarov said.
He also pointed out that this is especially important in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which has united people in defense of Ukraine.
For reference
The mass deportation of the indigenous population of Crimea from the peninsula by freight cars took place during May 18-21, 1944, on Stalin's personal order. The arrival of the trains to the remote corners of the then USSR ended on June 4. Crimean Tatars were accused of allegedly collaborating with Nazi Germany on a massive scale.
At the moment, there is no absolutely accurate data on how many Crimean Tatars were forcibly removed from the peninsula, and how many of them died during or in the first years after the deportation.
According to various estimates, between 191,000 and 423,000 Crimean Tatars were deported. Of these, between 27% and 42% died on the way or in the first years after the forced transportation.