“Kazachye?” The name echoes with history. It speaks of Cossacks and a turbulent past. We are standing at Kazachye Cemetery. It is within the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Kazachye Cemetery is a place of rest and remembrance. It is located in the heart of Saint Petersburg. This cemetery is more than just a burial ground. It reflects the dramatic shifts in Russian history.
Kazachye Cemetery’s story began in July 1917. Cossacks died during the July Days. They supported the Provisional Government. They were interred here. This gave the cemetery its name. Kazachye means Cossack in Russian. The cemetery officially opened in December 1919. It became the fourth cemetery in the monastery complex. The others were Lazarevskoe, Tikhvin and Nikolskoe.
In its early years, Kazachye Cemetery became a burial ground for members of the Communist Party. S. M. Scriabin and A. M. Dmitrevskaya were among them. Soldiers who defended Petrograd were also buried here. They fought against Nikolai Yudenich’s White forces in 1919. In 1921, some of those killed in the Kronstadt rebellion were buried in a mass grave.
The cemetery became known as Communist Square. Revolutionaries and party workers were buried here. So were policemen and security personnel. Prominent intellectuals also found their final resting place here. Nicholas Marr and Boris Legran are examples. It was a popular burial location for doctors. Ivan Grekov, Gleb Ivashentsov and Sergey Fedorov are among them.
Burials stopped temporarily after 1938. They resumed during the Second World War. The siege of Leningrad saw prominent defenders buried here. Generals Avramiy Shmay-Kreitsberg and Beniamin Galstyan rest here. Admirals Valentin Drozd and Yuri Rall are also interred here. Heroes of the Soviet Union are here as well.
Burials continued until the 1970s. The last coffin burial took place in 1970. It was S. V. Andreiuk. Cremated remains were interred until 2001. V. N. Kosenkov was the last. In total, about 700 people are buried at Kazachye Cemetery.
In 2005, the monument “The Triumph of Orthodoxy” was erected. It honors victims of the Orthodox faith. In 2009, the cemetery’s original name, Kazachye, was restored.
Kazachye Cemetery stands as a witness to history. It reflects the lives and deaths of those who shaped Saint Petersburg. As we leave, remember the stories etched in stone. Remember the echoes of a tumultuous era. This is a place where the past is never truly buried.