What is happening around the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions 

Lev Shlosberg’s blog post, 4.11.2024

18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА

18+ THE PRESENT MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNES THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG

The Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions is being transformed in Russia into a quasi-legal memorial day that has been officially established, officially not banned, but how the authorities mark it either has not been agreed upon under demonstratively wild pretexts or else is being stifled in the swamplike silence of dissemblance.

The Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions has become not only a day of commemoration but a day of moral resistance to the Stalinism being brought back to life, a day of resistance to contempt for the personal dignity of those who have fallen and those who are alive, a day of remembering the bitter fruits of forgetfulness.

The exact human cost of the Bolshevik repressions can no longer be calculated in full. We can no longer establish the number of remains in unmarked pits or restore the thousands of pages in archives that are not even closed (herein would lie hope for the future) but were simply burned.

The destruction of historical memory is more terrible than the destruction of archives. It rips out from society the roots of compassion and the ability to feel pain. In essence, it atrophies the social conscience.

How do we preserve public memory of the repressions and the repressions’ victims in an era of state forgetfulness? How do we lift the threat of new repressions from the country? We will talk about this today, 4 November, at 19:00, on Grazhdanin TV. Join us for the conversation. This is important for each of us.