When the Soviet cemetary was rearranged

Sigurd Seger was 16 years old when he got a job at Tor Engberg’s company. When Engberg had got the job to dig up the graves at the Soviet cemetery in Kolsarby, Kirkkonummi Sigurd was the one who drove the excavator.

- Eight men from the undertaker’s came to break open the coffins. At that moment no one was allowed to do anything else. A Russian wrote down all the names that were known. The verger was also there, but I don’t remember his name.

The graves were about 2 meters deep and laid in clay soil, which made the work even harder. The graves were first dug up and then put back down in a new order in straight rows. All the graves from the leased area of Porkkala were brought to this place.

- Just dig, you won’t get anything else than felt slippers in your scoop anyway, the others were joking. They also made jokes about the red bands that the women had.

Sigurd still remembers what it felt like to sit in the excavator.

- I saw one of them, who were dug up. I sat in the excavator and could look only with one eye. I had terrible nightmares afterwards and never wanted to look again, as the coffin was lifted.