Press Release, 15.04.2014
A working conference on “The problems of memorialization of the participants of the civil war in Russia” took place in the Memorial human rights centre on April 14. The guests of the conference decided to carry education policy on the events and heroes of the anti-Bolshevik resistance and to present a report on the most controversial events of the civil war in the near future.
YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin, Secretary of YABLOKO Political Committee Galina Mikhaleva were present at the conference.
Representative of the Memorial centre Konstantin Morozov opened the conference and said that the idea to immortalize the events of the anti-Bolshevik resistance appeared at the conference on history organised by YABLOKO [on December 16, 2013].
“There’s a disbalance in our work: scientists carry discussions at conferences, but that’s all. And we need broad public campaigns aiming to change the social conscience. At the moment most of the population, especially young people, have muddled historical knowledge. What is more, there should be information on the historical guilt of the soviet “heroes” as the streets are still named after them. Modern technology can provide it,” said YABLOKO’s Galina Mikhaleva.

Sergei Mitrokhin and Galina Mikhaleva

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin mentioned that one should act step by step and not start with the claim that a memorial plaque should be placed for every participant of the anti-Bolshevik resistance. He proposed to begin with indisputable issues like the struggle of junkers and officers against the Bolshevik terror in 1917. Sergei Mitrokhin spoke about YABLOKO’s annual memorial action paying tribute to those who tried to defend democratic Russia in 1917 – cadets and officers who conducted armed resistance to the Bolshevik coup of 1917.
YABLOKO leader believed that junkers were the true fighters for democracy in Russia, therefore their memory should be immortalized. The protection of the legitimate authority (the Provisional Government, Moscow City Duma) meant the protection of the right of the people to decide their destiny. And such a decision should have been taken at the Constituent Assembly.
YABLOKO leader also said that he was against the national reconciliation thesis. “The social conscience is infected by the viruses we plan to struggle against. The goal of the memorialization of the anti-Bolshevik fighters is to make an anti-Bolshevik revolution in the social conscience,” he announced.
“Let’s take the situation with the Crimea. It’s typical Bolshevism: the principle of the revolutionary expediency is that the end justifies the means. Putin’s regime captured the Crimea in 2014 the way Bolsheviks came to power in 1917. If they want something, they don’t care about the law, legitimacy, and capture what they want,” said YABLOKO leader. “And the citizens approve of it as their mentality is still infected by the Bolshevism virus. The constitutional state, independent court, fair elections can’t be found until the social conscience puts expediency over law.”
The participants of the conference decided to involve the Liberal Heritage foundation to the problem of immortalization of the participants of the Civil War. YABLOKO and the other organisations present will send appeals to the authority bodies with the proposals to perpetuate the participants of the anti-Bolshevik resistance. The projects of the appeals will be discussed at the next round table in May.