On 29 October 2018, the annual “Restoring the Names” ceremony took place in Moscow, despite previous uncertainties. That day and the next, similar events took place in 19 other Russian towns and cities (and in several foreign cities as well). In many more places, including Sandarmokh and Krasny Bor in Karelia, the 30 October was … Continue reading The Kommunarka controversy
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Moscow’s “Restoring the Names” (2018) in question
On Friday 19 October, the Moscow city authorities suddenly withdrew permission to hold this year’s ceremony in its traditional location, next to FSB headquarters, claiming that ongoing construction and restoration work made the site unsuitable. 29 October 2017, Lubyanka Square, Moscow For the last 11 years the ceremony of Restoring the Names has been held … Continue reading Moscow’s “Restoring the Names” (2018) in question
Russia arrests second historian of Stalin’s Terror
It is becoming dangerous in Russia to investigate the crimes of Stalinism, writes Halya Coynash. A second Karelian historian, Sergei KOLTYRIN has been arrested and is facing charges almost identical to those now brought against political prisoner, Yury DMITRIEV. Sergei Koltyrin While the possibility cannot be excluded that there are real grounds for these new … Continue reading Russia arrests second historian of Stalin’s Terror
Memory Wars?
A lengthy article about the POW execution theory in Russia’s Kommersant newspaper (7 September 2018) is even-handed and thorough. It needs little more than the following passage, however, to show the "new hypothesis of Karelian historians" for what it is: “Officially, there is no data to show that the Finns carried out mass executions at … Continue reading Memory Wars?
Politically-motivated excavations
Russia has turned to politically-motivated excavations to rewrite the history of the USSR in the late 1930s, writes Halya Coynash, after jailing a major historian of Stalin's Great Terror yet again. A new attempt to rewrite the history of the Great Terror in the Soviet Union appears to be under way in Russia. This renewed … Continue reading Politically-motivated excavations
The Dmitriev Affair 