Grave-digging in Feodosia
On April 22nd the Jewish organizations of Simferopol arrived at the 10th kilometer mark on the Feodosia Highway to plant seedlings in honor of the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance day. On December 11-13 1941 over 14,000 Jews and Krymchaks were murdered by the Nazis in the tank defense moats at this location. The moat was several tens of meters wide and over 730 meters long. After the Holocaust the moat was covered with concrete to prevent vandalism and looting by grave-diggers. Unfortunately with the advancement of technology grave-diggers have learned how to use metal detectors and construction equipment to locate graves and dig up the precious metals beneath the concrete. The volunteers were horrified to find freshly broken ground with human remains scattered around the gravesite. This was bizarre because the grave-diggers usually work very carefully and scatter soil in different places rather far from the actual breakage to hide their trespassing.
The volunteers immediately informed the office of Security Service of Ukraine in Crimea and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Simferopol district. Their representatives came to the site of mass burial and examined the site, meter by meter. At one point investigators from the Security Service noticed that the ground seemed springy. After removing a 10-centimetre layer of soil the officials found wooden boards, under which there were crossbars. Under the crossbars there was a pit over 3.5 meters deep, over a meter wide and over 3 meters long. Down in the pit the investigators saw more horizontal tunnels going both sides and remains of human bones and decayed shoes at the bottom of the pit. At a depth of over one meter the 30-inch slab of poured concrete was broken. It was obvious that they worked with construction machines.
While reviewing the damage done by the grave-diggers I was disheartened at the depravity of the situation. How could one do this to their fellow human beings? Whoever has committed this heinous desecration should be tried for their misdeeds by the Security Service and Ministry of Internal Affairs.