Until the end of the 1930s “special” settlers constituted the absolute majority of the population of Kirovsk (Khibinogorsk until 1934). They built the town and the Apatite combine and worked at the mines. In December 1935, 89 people died in snow avalanches, which killed a further 21 (28 say other sources) in February 1938. The majority were special settlers and they were buried together in common graves at the 16th kilometre cemetery [51.01].
With the support of the city administration, the Khibin Memorial Society erected a commemorative sign which reads: “We shall never forget the first builders of Kirovsk who perished”; the names of the dead are recorded on plaques.
Each year, since 2007, the Khibin Memorial Society, descendants of the special settlers and members of the public hold a solemn ceremony on 14 March, the date when the first group of special settlers arrived.
Volume Two of the Murmansk Region Book of Remembrance, 1930s-1950s (2005, 413 pp) deals specifically with the 29,000 forced settlers and deportees sent to the Kola Peninsula.
| Date | Nature of ceremonies | Organiser or responsible person | Participants | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
14 March
|
Anniversary of first forced settlers' arrival
|
Khibingorsk Memorial Society
|
Memorial Society, public
|
Annual event
|
| State of burials | Area | Boundaries |
|---|---|---|
|
Preserved
|
900 square metres
|
Within the cemetery
|
[ Original texts & hyperlinks ]
Khibin Memorial society, The part played by special settlers and prisoners in opening up the Khibin area: A book of memoirs, Apatity, 1997
Kirovsk local history museum (8 July 2014), “Note on the avalanche in Kirovsk, 5 December 1935” – RIC Memorial archive (St Petersburg)
“The mass grave of special settlers at the 16th km cemetery (on the Apatity-Kirovsk highway)” Virtual Museum of the Gulag [retrieved, 8 June 2022]
Letter from Irina Flige, director of RIC Memorial (No 1231 of 25 March 2014) to Marina Kovtun, governor of the Murmansk Region {in English}
Reply by the Kirovsk town administration (№ 01-845 of 18 April 2014) to a formal enquiry from RIC Memorial (St Petersburg)
