June 20, in South Ossetia, according to the decree of President Anatoly Bibilov, was declared the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the People of South Ossetia by Georgia. This date was not chosen by chance. On this day in 1920, 13 Ossetians - Communards, were shot.
This year is also the 100th anniversary of the Ossetian genocide, in connection with which a state commission was set up in the Republic to prepare and conduct commemorative events. The coronavirus pandemic made adjustments to the action plan, and some of them, according to Minister of Culture Zhanna Zasseeva, had to be postponed. But she has noted that everything planned will be surely realized.
Already today, one can notice that on banners in the capital and districts, posters appeared telling about the events of the genocide, and a person involuntarily becomes a participant in those tragic acts that claimed the lives of almost a third of the population of South Ossetia.
Three days at the Nameless Peak
On June 19, South Ossetian alpinists will climb the Nameless Peak, where they must install a plate with the inscription: "You must not forget about this." According to Zhanna Zasseeva, this inscription will allow every climber and guests of the Republic who visit the mountains of Ossetia every summer, to stop and think that there will definitely be bones of our compatriots under the stones, and there are still living witnesses today.
“All the climbing groups of South Ossetia expressed a desire to follow three “death routes”- from the Dzimyry-Khokh, the Kudar gorge and the Ruck pass, along which the South Ossetian people tried to escape in 1920. Many our compatriots died in the mountains, and climbers will stop on each hill to honor the memory of the innocently killed. And this is the right decision. In this world, everything is interconnected, and I think, God will hear their prayers, and in the next world they will feel a little better,” she said.
Many people want to climb, but as the minister says, they intend to select only twenty of them. Climbers in the mountains will stay for three days. She noted that due to restrictive measures in connection with the pandemic, climbers cannot reach Nogir (North Ossetia), where our countrymen settled back then, to Digora and thank them for the warm welcome of our compatriots at that time, preventing them from dying on the plain. But we will definitely repeat this route,” the Minister said.
Appeal to the people
On June 20, all state flags will be lowered in the Republic as a sign of sadness and mourning. And at 8 o’clock in the morning, an announcer’s text will be heard on the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company IR, and the running line will remind viewers of the Day of Mourning and the National minute of silence will be observed after the official address of the South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov to the people.
According to Zhanna Zasseeva, it is the duty of every resident of the Republic at 12.00 to leave their affairs, stop and join the minute of silence.
“If you are reading a book, close it and stand up, if at that time you are on the street - stop, if you have a telephone call - turn it off, if you are traveling by transport - stop, if you are sitting - get up, if you are working - suspend the work and get up. Give this minute to everyone who died, whose souls were ruined. Let everyone who remembers them visit bright thoughts. And as long as we remember, we live. Think about the cost of our lives today, because there could be ten times as many people in the city, there would be no abandoned villages, empty houses. And what kind of power would they be during the years of the Great Patriotic War ... If it were possible to reverse history,” the minister says.
Prayer and alarm bell
Events dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Genocide will begin on June 20 at 9.30 in the morning with the laying of flowers at the monument of 13 Communards in the Zguder Cemetery. And at 10.00 a prayer will begin for the repose of the innocently ruined souls during the Ossetian genocide. “Moreover, prayers will be held both in the churches of the Alan diocese, the Russian Orthodox Church, and in Yerevan and North Ossetia. Thanks to the clergy who accepted our request and will pray for the souls of the victims of the genocide,” said Zhanna Zasseeva.
Black balls with the inscription: “RIPt!” Will be launched throughout the Republic, in each district and settlement. From 12 am to 5 pm, classical and folk funeral music by famous composers will be played on the square, not live, but recorded. This was decided due to quarantine measures and in order to ensure the safety of the population. At the same time, hourly bells will be rung in memory of the victims.
“In the life of every nation there are dates that must always be remembered. The older generation each time returns to the events of a hundred years ago.
This is our life and we are obliged to talk about genocide. Genocide has a very extensive explanation. And if we consider it from a legal point of view, then all the events that have occurred with our people fit every point of genocide,” the Minister said.
She has noted that at the mourning events will be hand out leaflets explaining the essence of the concept of “genocide,” so that people know what it is. Zhanna Zasseeva has appealed to everyone who remembers the tragic events of the genocide of the Ossetian people to tell them so that future generations would know about the atrocities of the Georgians. This must not be forgotten.
