The Russian state still uses Joseph Stalin’s political
methods, said YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin at the Returning
of the Names action which is annually held in the centre of
Moscow by the Solovetsky Stone monument. People commemorate
the victims of the Great Terror and read out loud the names
of the people shot during those years.
"The roots of Stalinism have not been removed from our
society and our state. Commemorating the victims of the terror
we must also recognize our responsibility so that this will
never happen again," Mitrokhin said after reading out
loud the names of the people shot in 1937 – 1938.
Sergei Mitrokhin
Activists and leaders of the YABLOKO party have been traditionally
taking part in the action organised by the International Society
"Memorial". Today, members of YABLOKO’s Political
Committee Sergei Ivanenko and Boris Misnik, Bureau members
Valery Goryachev and Olga Vlasova, and a few dozen activists
of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO have come to the Solovetsky
Stone.
Grigory Yavlisnky, YABLOKO founder and head of the YABLOKO
faction in St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly, has commemorated
the victims of the Great Terror in St. Petersburg today. He
has laid a wreath to the Solovetsky Stone on the Trinity Square.
Grigory Yavlinsky
The participants of the Moscow action will be replacing each
other in turn for 12 hours (from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) at the
podium made by the Solovetsky Stone for reading out the names.
Each of the participants reads out loud personal data - name,
age and occupation – of five people shot during the Great
Terror, and then puts a candle and lays flowers to the basement
of the Stone.
Boris Misnik
Many of those who come add to the list the names of their
relatives killed by Stalin's henchmen. Some bring photographs
of the political prisoners.
Sergei Ivanenko, Political Committee member
The queue to the monument is about 100 people. People wait
for about an hour in chilling weather to commemorate the memory
of the innocent victims.
Valery Goryachev, Bureau member
Olga Vlasova, Bureau member
See also:
Human
Rights
Overcoming
Stalin’s Legacy
YABLOKO
Against Broadening of Proxies of Secret Services
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