This website has already published excerpts from Irina Flige's 2019 book about Sandarmokh: The Search for Sandarmokh. What follows is from a review in the January 2020 issue of Novy mir, the literary magazine (Moscow). "Two themes run through Irina Flige’s book," writes Tatyana Bonch-Osmolovskaya. "One is the quest, pursued across many years, for the … Continue reading “Light in the Darkness” (I)
Solovki*
The Search for Sandormokh (contd)
SOLOVKI From a list to biographies To compile biographical profiles and confirm the information they contained we sent questionnaires to those regions in the USSR where the prisoners on Solovki had been arrested and sentenced. Meanwhile, we engaged in more active communication with the family members who took a keen and constant interest in our … Continue reading The Search for Sandormokh (contd)
The Search for Sandormokh
“Twenty years ago, it seemed to us that Sandormokh as a place and these acts of remembrance divided the present from the past,” said Irina FLIGE in August 2017, at the Day of Remembrance at Sandormokh. “Today, unfortunately, we must recognise that memories of the Great Terror have not become part of our [shared] memory … Continue reading The Search for Sandormokh
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
The Dmitriev Affair 