“Special” Settlements, 1930-1933

Dispossession, imprisonment, deportation and famine After experimenting in Siberia the previous autumn and winter, the November 1929 plenum of the Communist Party Central Committee decided to proceed with the forced collectivization of the countryside and the “liquidation of the kulaks as a social group” (a process also known as “dekulakization”). The collectivization campaign supported a … Continue reading “Special” Settlements, 1930-1933

The Great Terror, 1937-1938

Over sixteen months (August 1937-November 1938), more than one and a half million people were arrested in the USSR and sentenced in their absence by regional tribunals -- the extra-judicial troika (“three-member commissions”), dvoika (“two-member commissions”), and Special Board -- or came briefly before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court in Moscow. No defence … Continue reading The Great Terror, 1937-1938

Brutal persecution of Dmitriev and foster daughter Natasha revealed

The verdict is due tomorrow in what a huge number of prominent Russians have called one of the grubbiest political trials in the country, writes Halya Coynash. Modern Russia has long been imprisoning people for their civic position or beliefs, but the case of renowned historian of the Terror and Memorial activist, Yury DMITRIEV, stands … Continue reading Brutal persecution of Dmitriev and foster daughter Natasha revealed