TOMSK, Mar 22 – RIA Tomsk. The Memory center of special settlers will be opened in the village of Palochka, Verkhneketsky district of the Tomsk region by September 2020; it will be located in the building of the former school and will act as an archive, museum, library and memorial, one of the authors of the project Irina Yanchenko told RIA Tomsk.
Earlier it was reported that in the Verkhneketsky district of the Tomsk region, in the village of Palochka, which arose in the early 1930s as a result of the forcible resettlement of dispossessed peasants, thousands of whom later died of starvation and disease, the first in the Russian Federation memorial to victims of collectivization may appear. The authors of the idea - two residents of the village - won a presidential grant of 1.2 million rubles.
"The room - is a two-story former school. The administration gave us the right wing of the first floor free of charge. There are enough rooms, now we are examine it and start repairing. By September 1, everything should be ready, we should already come here", - Yanchenko said.
She added that the future center - is a “mix” of archive, museum, library and memorial. It will contain all archival documentation on special settlers from the Altai Krai, materials about the Verkhneketsky district and the toponymy of abandoned villages, various meetings, events, and forums will be held. Volunteers of the center also plan to establish contact with the descendants of special settlers buried near the village.
“Also (we plan) the creation of a museum and memorial complex in the future, in the very center and under the open sky. Entrance will be free, there will always be someone in the center, we have many volunteer assistants. We very much hope that the district administration will join us...will give us a wage-rate of museum employee", - the interlocutor of the agency said.
It was also reported that within the framework of this project, women restore the names of special settlers from Altai - out of 1087 families, about 90% were restored. By 2021, it is planned to create a memory square in Palochka.