Yabloko sent an appeal to the Moscow government to clarify the situation with the closure of the Gulag History Museum
Press Release, 27.11.2024
Photo: The Gulag History Museum on the day of its closure / Photo by Anatoly Zhdanov, Kommersant
A letter signed by Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party Maxim Kruglov was sent to the head of the Moscow Department of Culture Alexei Fursin. Kruglov asks the head of the department to list the violations identified during the inspection of the museum that led to its closure and the deadlines for their elimination.
On 14 November, it was reported that the Gulag History Museum had suspended its work. The information on museum’s website ran that “as a result of an inspection by specialists from the Centre for Expertise, Research and Testing in Construction, violations of fire safety were identified”. According to the conclusion, these violation posed a threat to the safety and comfort of museum visitors and had to be eliminated.
As reported in the media, the fire safety violations revealed during the inspection were reduced to the fact that the ventilation chambers of the Moscow metro were located on the museum’s territory.
The GULAG History Museum is a unique and only state institution in Russia dedicated to the tragic period of Joseph Stalin’s repressions of 1930s – early 1950s. The exhibition is based on archives, letters and files of prisoners’ personal cases, as well as a reconstruction of elements of daily living in a penal camp, which makes the museum a unique space for understanding and preserving historical memory.
In 2022, at the initiative of the Yabloko faction of the Moscow City Duma, the museum was awarded the Certificate of Honour of the Moscow City Duma “for services to the city community”.
The inspection of the building was carried out at the request of the founder of the museum – the Moscow Department of Culture. Yabloko asks the head of the department Alexei Fursin to clarify what fire safety violations hindering the work of the museum were identified during the inspection of the museum, as well as the deadline for eliminating these violations and resuming the work of the museum.
Posted: November 27th, 2024 under Governance, History, Human Rights, Overcoming Stalin's Legacy, Yabloko's Regional Branches.