Butovo Shooting Range. These images capture a group of people executed in just one day—March 25, 1938. Among them were young men who knew each other well. They called themselves the «Gentlemen’s Club»—perhaps as a joke, or perhaps in all seriousness.
Several group photos have survived. They were all 20-23 years old, except for Zhenya Ponomaryov, who was seven years older than his brother. He was the one labeled by investigators as the «initiator» of the group.
The leader (according to the investigation or in reality) was Vitya Weber, an accountant at the Monino Worsted Mill. He was not even 22 years old. He was arrested first.
Next came brothers Zhenya and Volodya Ponomaryov.
Zhora Kotrel was taken straight from his institute dormitory.
His brother Sasha was arrested at home on 2nd Donskoy Proezd, near the Textile Institute where he was studying.
The last to be arrested were Vanya Chistyakov and Gena Dikaryov.
They were all accused of leading the fascist youth organization «Gentlemen’s Club».
The NKVD Troika of the Moscow Region sentenced them to execution.
On March 25, 1938, the sentence was carried out.
Brothers Volodya and Zhenya. Zhora and Sasha…
It is impossible to imagine what they felt as they walked to their deaths.
Only 18 years later, the case was recognized as fabricated.
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