Yurga, Kemerovskaya Oblast (Siberia)
The village of Yurga was established in 1886 on the banks of the Tom River. In 1915, construction of the railway to the Kolchuginsky coal mines began.
Following the Deportation Decree in 1941, Volga Germans from the colony of Enders (among others) were resettled there. Many died during the first years they were in Yurga, and were buried in a mass grave. A memorial has been created at the site of the mass grave.
In 1943, construction of the Yurga Machine-Building Plant was completed, and what had been a village became an industrial center for the region.
St. Luke's Lutheran Church was founded in Yurga following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
- Юрга (Russian Wikipedia) [in Russian]
Pre-Volga Origin
The altar of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Yurga.
Source: Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Location of mass grave where Volga German deportees were buried in Yurga.
Source: Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Memorial to those who died and are buried in the mass grave in Yurga.
Source: Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Memorial to those who are known to be buried in the mass grave at Yurga.
[Unfortunately the quality of the photo is not good enough to read the names.]
Source: Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church.