Geneticists from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin (PUM) have identified three Georgian victims of Stalinist crimes whose remnants were found near Batumi. Their research was the final key link in the historical and archaeological work of the international team identifying the victims of the Great Terror.

The remnants of 27 victims murdered in 1937 were found on the grounds of a monastery near Batumi. This is the first case in Georgia’s history of identifying victims of the Stalinist regime, but also the first direct evidence of Soviet executions in the country.

The role of the scientists of the Szczecin Medical University was to obtain good quality DNA from the bone material, determine the genetic profiles of the victims and their families, and then make comparisons and calculations to be able to comment on the identity of the people whose remains were found.

According to the head of the Department of Forensic Genetics of the PUM, Dr Andrzej Ossowski, MD, the work in Georgia was an interesting experience for his team, and each case of this type and the specificity of the work in each region of Europe or the world is different, because of the approach by state authorities and society.

“They are very sensitive issues and require an understanding of many sides. We know that both Catholics and Muslims are buried here, so these works are particularly difficult”, stressed Ossowski.

The 1930s were a period of Stalinist repression (purges), which intensified especially in the years 1937-38. In 1968, the British historian Robert Conquest introduced the term “Great Terror” to describe the peak phase of Stalinist repression. More than 1.5 million people were arrested at the time and around 750,000 were executed. Trials before summary courts usually ended in the death penalty or life imprisonment in the gulags.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński