True crime · 1941
Bodies under the powder cellar of Kuressaare castle
Surnukehad Kuressaare linnuse püssirohukeldri põranda all
Soviet forces held Saaremaa until the autumn of 1941 and used the bishop's castle in Kuressaare as a stronghold. When German forces took the island in the autumn, several mass graves were found in and around the castle: on 25 September the bodies of 31 people were uncovered beneath the floor of the gunpowder cellar, and three more lay in the castle well. About ninety victims, most of them ordinary islanders, had been tortured and killed there. They now lie in a mass grave in Kudjape cemetery, marked by an oak cross and a plaque with their names.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Nõukogude väed pidasid Saaremaad 1941. aasta sügiseni ja kasutasid Kuressaare piiskopilinnust tugipunktina. Kui Saksa väed sügisel saare vallutasid, leiti linnusest ja selle ümbrusest mitu ühishauda: 25. septembril avastati püssirohukeldri põranda alt 31 inimese surnukehad ja kolm laipa oli linnuse kaevus. Seal piinati ja tapeti umbes üheksakümmend inimest, enamasti lihtsad saarlased. Nad puhkavad Kudjape kalmistul ühishauas, mida tähistavad tammepuust rist ja hukkunute nimedega tahvel.