Back مجزرة نوفوتشركاسك Arabic Novoçerkassk qətliamı Azerbaijani Новочеркасскиҙәге атып үлтереү Bashkir Новачаркаскі расстрэл Byelorussian Вълнения в Новочеркаск Bulgarian Massacre de Novotxerkassk Catalan Aufstand in Nowotscherkassk German Σφαγή του Νοβοτσερκάσκ Greek Ribelo de laboristoj en Novoĉerkassk Esperanto Masacre de Novocherkask Spanish
| Novocherkassk massacre | |||
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| Новочеркасский расстрел, Novocherkasskiy rasstrel | |||
 Demonstrators marching before the massacre, carrying red banners and a portrait of Vladimir Lenin | |||
| Date | 2 June 1962 | ||
| Location | 47°24′35″N 40°06′05″E / 47.4096°N 40.1013°E | ||
| Caused by | Economic conditions, including food price increases and wage cuts | ||
| Resulted in | Protests suppressed | ||
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The Novocherkassk massacre (Russian: Новочеркасский расстрел, romanized: Novocherkasskiy rasstrel) took place on 2 June 1962 in Novocherkassk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, when Soviet Army soldiers and MVD Internal Troops, supported by KGB units, fired on unarmed demonstrators protesting economic conditions. The massacre took place during a strike that began the previous day at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Works (NEVZ) after the government under Nikita Khrushchev announced nationwide price increases for meat and butter, which coincided with pay cuts at the factory.
The strike spread rapidly after initial attempts by authorities to suppress it failed and police arrested several workers.[10] On 2 June, thousands of protesters marched from the factory district to the Communist Party headquarters (gorkom) in the city center, overwhelming military barricades. After the demonstrators occupied the gorkom and demanded to speak with officials, troops opened fire on the crowd. Concurrent clashes at the police station resulted in more deaths. Official records later confirmed 24 demonstrators killed and 69 severely wounded.
Soviet authorities immediately began an extensive cover-up, secretly burying the victims in unmarked graves outside the city and compelling witnesses and participants to sign non-disclosure pledges. Over 100 people were later convicted in show trials for "mass disorders" and "banditry", with seven sentenced to death and executed. Information about the event was suppressed until the late 1980s, during glasnost. Following investigations initiated amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union, most of those convicted were rehabilitated in the 1990s. The massacre is remembered as a key event exposing the limitations of the Khrushchev Thaw, and significantly impacted subsequent Soviet economic and internal security policies.
- ^ Baron 2001, pp. ix, 102–103.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 522.
- ^ Baron 2001, p. 55.
- ^ a b c Baron 2001, p. 44.
- ^ Baron 2001, p. 106.
- ^ Baron 2001, pp. 44, 57.
- ^ a b Baron 2001, p. 68.
- ^ Baron 2001, p. 67.
- ^ Baron 2001, p. 89.
- ^ Hosking 1992, pp. 388–389.