ETERNAL MEMORY TO THE COSSACKS’ HEROES

On 22 January 2011 in the church in honour of the Don Icon of Saint Mary in the Don Cloister of Moscow bishop Kirill of Pavlov Posad served requiem dedicated to Cossacks and members of their families who were victims of political repressions by communists. Approximately a thousand people prayed at the requiem.

Before the beginning of the requiem young Cossacks swore to serve to the Orthodox Faith, Legal Authority and Russian Fatherland.
During the requiem Cossacks and fascinated Orthodox people prayed to the Lord to promise the sins and to give the eternal lives to “honest atamans and honest Cossacks,” who suffered from “our enemy devil and its servants.” In his speech bishop Kirill specially emphasized the role of two Cossacks’ atamans: ataman of the Greatest Army of Don general Piotr Krasnoff and the commander-in-chief of the Military Forces of the South Russia general Anton Denikin. They were the leaders of the Russian people in their struggle against the atheistic communists regime in the Civil War of 1917 – 1922. General Krasnoff and general Denikin are buried at the cemetery of the Don Cloister.

Anticommunists' placard of 1919: "Look, what Bolshevicks do in your villages!"

More than 100 thousand people were the victims of the communists’ repressions against Cossacks in 1919 – 1947.

Lieutenat General Piotr Krasnoff

After the requiem a lot of Cossacks came to the common grave were the generals-anticommunists were buried: generals Piotr Krasnoff, Andrei Shkuro, Semion Krasnoff, and Timophey Domanoff. They were killed by communists on 16 January 1947 because of their participation in the Russian anticommunists’ military forces during World War II. On 16 and 17 January 2011 in Moscow in different churches requiems in their honour were served too.
Representatives of the Russian Imperial Union-Order and other monarchists participated in all memory actions dedicated to the Cossacks’ heroes from 16 to 22 January 2011 in Moscow.

Moscow Department of the RIU-O