Adzhimushkai in translation from the Turkic "gray gray stone" is a small village, which is located 7 km from Kerch, it was he who gave the name to the quarries, after the war the quarries began to be called catacombs.
Instructions
Step 1
In the pre-war period, limestone-stone was mined in Adzhimushkai, as a result of which numerous catacombs were formed in these places. It was they who became during the Great Patriotic War the place of deployment of part of the troops of the Crimean Front defending Kerch. On May 8, 1942, Nazi troops launched an offensive on the Kerch Peninsula and captured Kerch on May 16.
When the Nazis occupied Kerch, about 10,000 Red Army soldiers and 5-6 thousand civilians of the city - women, old people and children - descended into the Adzhimushkaya catacombs. The defense of the quarries was prepared spontaneously in the course of hostilities without any developed plan, in connection with which people faced such deprivations as lighting, water, food, ammunition and medicines.
Step 2
The lack of water supply endangered the presence in the quarries. There were no open springs underground, and on the surface there were two wells, one with fresh water and the other with brackish water. The Nazis constantly kept wells under fire and one bucket of water cost several human lives. After a while, one well was destroyed by the Germans, and the other was thrown by the Nazis with the corpses of Soviet soldiers.
The command decides to dig wells underground. Judging by the surviving data, three wells were dug at once. The fate of one of them is unknown, and we do not even know the place where this well was dug. They were the first to dug a well on the territory of the first battalion, although the Germans learned that such engineering work was being carried out underground to build a well, and at the most important moment, when they reached the clay layer, they laid explosives on the surface, made an explosion, and this well was filled up. Therefore, the last well was dug in compliance with all precautions, only hand tools were used, its depth is 14.5 meters and water is still there. From the moment the well was dug, the garrison could feel relatively calm in terms of water. The problem of water supply was resolved and the Adzhimushkays could continue to fight. Indeed, in the early days, due to thirst, people physically could not stand it, some went to the surface and surrendered. Now the garrison with new forces continued active hostilities.
Shots, grenades and mines exploded over the quarries day and night. The Nazis wanted to open the underground corridor, but to no avail. Then the Nazis go to the monstrous crime - they are trying to destroy the people in the quarries with the help of poisonous gases. From special vehicles at the entrances, the Germans let nerve gas underground. Because of the gas attacks, a lot of civilians and soldiers are killed. People tried to escape in distant adits, but the gas spread through the whole labyrinth of the quarry in a draft.
After the first gas attack, the number of people underground is almost halved. To save themselves, the soldiers built gas shelters in dead ends, erecting walls of stones. The entrances were closed with several layers of greatcoats and everything that prevented the penetration of gases. The Nazis tried to destroy the Adzhimushkays not only with the help of gases, but also with the help of landslides. Bombs were planted on the surface, and as a result of the explosions, tons of stones fell on people's heads. In the quarries, there are many such landslides that have become mass graves.
On October 30, 1942, the Germans finally captured the catacombs and captured several living defenders. Of the approximately 15,000 people who descended into the catacombs, only 48 survived after a 170-day siege. In November 1943, units of the 56th Army crossed the Kerch Strait and liberated the village of Adzhimushkai. What the warriors saw in the quarries is difficult to describe. These were several thousand people who died at the entrances, suffocated from gases, they froze in poses that testified to terrible torment.
Step 3
Quarries in Kerch are not just a monument to Soviet soldiers, it is a territory where real Heroes lie under a pile of stones to this day, where huge ditches have not leveled off the ground and have not hidden in the thickets of time. It is very difficult to be in the dark under a thick stone vault among those who will never rise to the surface.
