Another "Stalin" Grave Found in Batumi

The fifth mass grave, allegedly of the victims of the 1937-1938 Soviet repressions, has been discovered in Georgia’s Black Sea coastal city of Batumi, announced the state commission created to study the corpses discovered in Batumi.

“On the same territory where we discovered four other graves, we have found another, which we have yet to open as we are waiting for the specialists,” cleric of the Batumi and Lazeti diocese, Pirimze Rurua, said.

He added that coins issued in 1935 were found in previously found graves, which leads to the belief that the burial site belongs to the victims of the Soviet terror.

The governmental commission is headed by Ajara Healthcare Minister Zaal Mikeladze. The graves are being studied by both archeologists and scientists.

On April 5, on the official website of the Batumi and Lazeti Eparchy, it was declared that the remains of corpses had been found in four mass graves in Batumi.

The Batumi and Lazeti Eparchy stated the place where the graves were found had been given to the Patriarchate of Georgia for temporary use, and noted that the graves contained a total of 150 human remains.

The statement reads that with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health, a base of DNA of the remains will be created and an examination of the corpses can be done at any time.

By Thea Morrison

Photo source: Batumelebi

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