On the official Day in Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression, up to fifty people gathered outside Severodvinsk to commemorate those who worked and died in the Yagrinlag camp complex, building what is now the second largest city in the Arkhangelsk Region. Among those attending were relatives of the deceased prisoners and local historians, … Continue reading Victims remembered
Month: October 2021
The Great Terror in Karelia
On 31 July 1937 NKVD head Yezhov's Secret Order 00447 ("the Kulak operation") allocated the Karelian troika a quota of 300 to be shot and 700 sent to the camps. This marked the beginning of the Great Terror. By the end of the Terror in November 1938 at least 10,779 people had been shot and … Continue reading The Great Terror in Karelia
“Unprecedented”
At present there is a lull in the judicial proceedings. His lawyer Victor Anufriev says that the case files for both of Dmitriev’s trials remain in Moscow with the Supreme Court. On 19 October Anufriev challenged the decision of the Court not to examine the appeal he submitted on his client’s behalf in June this … Continue reading “Unprecedented”
“Our efforts are not in vain”: Yury Dmitriev on receiving the Sakharov Freedom Award
Today Dmitriev’s friends are in Oslo to receive the Sakharov Freedom Award on his behalf. They will read out a speech written by the prize-winner who remains in custody in Karelia. (Photo, Roman Dementyev) Meanwhile, the third trial of the historian at the Petrozavodsk City Court has been halted at least until 19 November while … Continue reading “Our efforts are not in vain”: Yury Dmitriev on receiving the Sakharov Freedom Award
Destination unknown
More than one thousand prisoners were shipped from the island prison of Solovki in October 1937. For their relatives they disappeared even earlier when letters remained unanswered, but they were not forgotten. Their families tried to discover their fate. Many years would pass before it was learned that they had been shot. For decades, relatives … Continue reading Destination unknown
The Dmitriev Affair 