The Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Ukraine, Bishop Michael (Anishchenko) of Koman has held in St Andrew’s church in Kyiv, which hosts the Stauropegion, a memorial service for the victims of the “Greek Operation” of the NKVD Soviet security service, conducted in 1937-1938.
That’s according to a Facebook post by the Greek Society of Kyiv.
“A memorial service was held today (Saturday – ed.) in St. Andrew’s Church in memory of the victims of the NKVD’s Greek Operation of 1937-1938, the victims of repression, and all those who are not with us. Thank you to everyone who prayed along with us! We express our sincere gratitude to the Mission “Stauropegion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine,” the statement reads.
It should be recalled that the “Greek Operation” of the NKVD was a mass repression act targeting the Greek ethnic minority across Soviet Union republics, which lasted from December 15, 1937, to March 1938 (some arrests continued until the fall of 1938).
More than 20,000 Greeks, mostly males between the ages of 20 and 50, have been arrested in connection with the crackdown on false accusations of espionage or counter-revolutionary activity. On average, 93% of them were shot dead. Local “Greek” operations in Donetsk region and Krasnodar Territory were particularly violent.
December 15 is marked by Greeks around the world as Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the NKVD’s “Greek Operation.”
