Shirokorechenskoe is the name of a Russian cemetery just outside the city of Yekaterinburg. It is the last resting place for famous people like artists, scientists, and heroes from World War II. You could compare this place with the world famous graveyard of Père Lachaise in Paris, France where you find the tombstones of very famous people. The same applies to Shirokorechenskoe with its gigantic tombstones, mausoleums, and sculptures.
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In one special section of the cemetery, you can see statues that are even more extravagant and tombstones with photorealistic pictures from de deceased who look neatly in suits with golden neck chains and Mercedes car keys in hand while smoking cigarettes with their car in the background. Those tombs are all from fallen mobsters killed, mostly in the nineties, when Russia had their own Chicago episodes comparably with the prohibition time in the United States.
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After the fall of the dictatorial Soviet regime, large parts of Russia were plunged in total anarchy with a gigantic growth of organized crime. The new post-communist governments were often responsible for bloody gang wars were the body count was impressive. Even today, the Russian mafia is a force in the shadows.
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Yekaterinburg received the doubtful honor to become the capital of Russian organized crime, the Chicago of the Russian Federation. Especially the ‘Uralmash’ gang was legendary and protagonists to the biggest gang wars the country ever saw. Funeral parlors had the time of their lives and the cemetery soon became almost too small.
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In a kind of epilogue for their criminal lives, the deceased received honors in the form of extravagant tombstones, monuments and memorial plates with even mentions of their specialties such as hitman, knife expert of a sniper.
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The descendants of the deceased are now mostly legit businesspersons, but the code of the mafia still rules the city. Estimations believe that 30% of the Russian economy is in hands of organized crime syndicates.
Photo Credit: are.na
It is a kind of history and folklore not to be proud of, but it delivers spectacular pictures and a strong story to tell.
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