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Attempts at Cover-Up
The leadership of SibLag (L.A. Gorshkov and I.I. Dolgih), in agreement with district functionaries, tried to hide the scale and causes of the tragedy, replaced workers on site, and dispersed the “Nazino people” among labor settlements of the commandant.
Vasily Velichko’s Investigation
The tragedy only became known because of one brave man. The incident came to light thanks to instructor of the Narymsky district committee of the Party V.A. Velichko, who conducted his own investigation and sent letters in August 1933 to I.V. Stalin and R.I. Eikhe.
Velichko was sent to the Alexandro-Vakhovskaya commandant in early August 1933 to collect information about conditions in labor settlements. For nearly three weeks, from August 3-22, 1933, he independently investigated the Nazino incident and subsequent events.
In his letter, Velichko wrote: “I soberly recognize that writing such a letter means taking great responsibility upon myself. I admit that a number of points may be presented inaccurately, may not be confirmed, or confirmed but not completely. I admit that there is much I simply don’t know – because I used unofficial sources, but I reason thus: ‘It’s even worse to remain silent'”.
Velichko described in his letter: “Hungry, exhausted people, without shelter, having no tools and mostly lacking work skills and especially skills for organized struggle with difficulties, found themselves in a hopeless situation. Frozen, they were only capable of lighting fires, sitting, lying, sleeping by the fire, wandering the island and eating rotten wood, bark, especially moss, etc.”
Among his shocking findings, Velichko reported that Commandant Suleymanov not only beat people but also ate sugar in incredibly large quantities in front of everyone during distribution to labor settlers, and now, by his own admission, had “lost all taste”.
The Official Investigation
Velichko’s letter caused a major scandal in the Central Committee apparatus and GPU leadership. In autumn 1933, a commission from SibLag arrived to investigate the circumstances of the mass death of special settlers in Nazino. The investigation confirmed the facts stated in the report, after which all materials were classified.
The commission found 31 mass graves on the island, each containing 50-70 corpses. “What exact number of people are buried on Nazino Island, and who exactly by surname – there is no such information,” stated the investigative report.
