Alexander Pokrovsky and his three brothers were born in a village in what today is Russia's Oryol Region. By the early 1930s, they had moved to Moscow. Ivan (1904-1933), Simeon (b. 1911), and Sergei (b. 1915) There in summer 1932 the OGPU (predecessor of the NKVD) arrested them and by October that year all four … Continue reading Remembrance (3): Four brothers
Russian Orthodox Church*
Historian Accused Of “Religious Hatred”
YURY BRODSKY sees the far northern Solovki Archipelago as a kaleidoscopic microcosm of Russia – its history, culture, nature, and spirit all brought together in one remote and windswept corner of a vast country. "The most varied people come here and they all need Solovki," says Brodsky. "It can change your world view. I'm trying … Continue reading Historian Accused Of “Religious Hatred”
Head of Museum’s disbanded Gulag section threatened with eviction
Attempts are being made to turn OLGA BOCHKARYOVA out of the accommodation transferred into her private ownership in 2011 by the Solovki Museum administration. On 1 January 2016, the Gulag section at the museum was disbanded and its head, Olga Bochkaryova, was dismissed from her post. Тhe present museum director, Vladimir V. Shutov, who is, … Continue reading Head of Museum’s disbanded Gulag section threatened with eviction
“My Work Is To Restore Memory” (Yury Dmitriev)
"In the detention centre where I was held, everything strictly followed the regulations: a step to the left, a step to the right—means practically being shot on the spot. My rights were not violated inasmuch as I’m a pliant person. They give me a bunk and I lie down,” Yury Dmitriev recounts. “But twice they … Continue reading “My Work Is To Restore Memory” (Yury Dmitriev)
Putin unveils monument in Moscow
Amid controversy over his own methods of maintaining control over Russia, President Vladimir Putin has unveiled a memorial dedicated to victims of Soviet-era government repression and said the years of suffering at the hands of the state must never be forgotten. Putin was speaking at the opening ceremony for the Wall Of Sorrow on 30 … Continue reading Putin unveils monument in Moscow
The Dmitriev Affair 