One of the most famous monuments in the small Transcarpathian town of Svalyava for more than 20 years is the Park and Wall of Remembrance to the Victims of Stalin’s Regime. Every year at this place with a tragic history is held a requiem meeting in memory of the dead Transcarpathians. It was here that in 1944-1945 there was a camp where thousands of people died.
In the autumn of 1944, when the city was liberated from Nazi troops, a transit camp was organized on the outskirts. Together with the Soviet troops, a military commission of internal affairs arrived in Svalyava and instituted mass arrests of local residents of German and Hungarian nationalities. Most of those arrested were men from 18 to 55 years old. Prisoners were brought from many towns and villages in Transcarpathia.
The arrested were kept in inhumane conditions, many died of infectious diseases and hunger, others were killed during mass shootings. In total, tens of thousands of people died in the camp near Svalyava.
The Memorial Park for the victims of Stalin’s regime on the place where the camp was located in the middle of the last century was decided to establish by the order of KMKS on November 24, 1989. Tovt Mihai became the head of the Memorial Park Commission. The wall with a high-rise stele was built in 2004 to mark the 60th anniversary of the tragic events, and it bears more than 12,000 names of those who passed away here.
New plaques appear in the Park every year. The names of all those who died in the camp were accurately identified only in 2006. Work on the memorial complex continues.
This place, where the terrible events took place, is visited by many tourists coming to Svalyava, especially Hungarian tourists, because what happened here is a part of the history of the Hungarian people. Every year on November 19, on the Day of Remembrance of Transcarpathians — victims of Stalin’s regime, the memory of the repressed is honored in the Park: flowers and wreaths are placed at the foot of the obelisk, a memorial service and memorial prayers for the martyrs are held.
The park and the Wall of Remembrance for the victims of Stalin’s regime is a place with a special energy. The people who died here passed away under tragic circumstances, but years later they are still remembered, prayed for and mourned for.
A visit to this memorial is a touch to the most tragic pages of human history. It is in such places that one comes to realize how important respect, understanding and peace between different peoples is, how priceless life is and how terrible wars and their consequences are. Such historical monuments are certainly important and of great significance for everyone. Perhaps that is why all tourists coming to Svalyava visit the Memorial Park, showing respect and tribute to those who died as a result of one of the most catastrophic events in history — the Second World War.