On Sunday, on the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the genocide of Ossetians, flowers and wreaths were laid at the monument to 13 Communards at the Zguder cemetery in South Ossetia.
The decree establishing a memorable date - June 20 was signed by the head of state - Anatoly Bibilov in 2020. The past year was also declared the "Year of Remembrance" in connection with the centenary of the genocide of Ossetians, carried out in 1920 by the Georgian Democratic Republic.
The memory of 13 Communards was honored on Sunday by the officials of the Republic, headed by President Anatoly Bibilov, representatives of the executive and legislative branches, and the public.
As noted by the Prime Minister of the Republic Gennady Bekoev in an interview with journalists, “- we must always remember about the tragic date of execution of 13 Communards and pass on the facts of the genocide of Ossetians from generation to generation”.
“The actions of the Georgians towards the Ossetians are considered genocide since 1920 to 2008. All these years our people have been persecuted by the aggressors. We, in turn, will continue to make efforts to bring these facts to the attention of the international community through the Geneva discussions, publications in the media,” Bekoev said.
Sonia Khubaeva, Presidential Plenipotentiary of South Ossetia for Religious Affairs, noted that "it was forbidden to talk about the events of 1920 in Soviet times."
“Thank God, our elders understood the significance of those tragic events, and told us about them, called the names of the victims. I urge the people of South Ossetia to remember all this, if we forget what happened, we can expect the same genocide,” she said.
On June 20, 1920, Georgian punishers shot 13 communards: Danil Valiev, Nikolai Valiev, Kishil Tskhovrebov, Nikolai Kotolov, Andrey Dzhioev, Pashka Khodov, Sosko Gobozov, Ivan Tedeev, Totr Tskhovrebov, Butu Dzeranov, Rezo Gigolaev, Sasha Gigolaev, Gigo Kumaritov.
