APPEAL

of the working group of the international action “Remember 1937!”
and the initiative group of the international campaign “Anti-Stalinism”
on the situation around the project “The name of Russia”

 

 

On the 8th of May this year the state central television channel ”Rossiya”, the radio station “Mayak”, the Institute of Russian history of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Foundation “Public opinion” launched a project called “The name of Russia – historical choice 2008” (www.nameofrussia.ru). The idea of the project is that one historical character that symbolizes Russia for its citizens should be elected in a series of steps. “Who personifies Russia and Russia’s past, with whom are we facing the future? A villain or a saint? An evildoer or a genius? A hero or an impostor? You are to answer to all those questions!” says the presentation on the internet site of the project.

 

One of the constant leaders of the ongoing internet poll is Joseph Stalin. In the memory of an enormous amount of people in Russia, as well as in Newly Independent States and countries in Eastern Europe, this historical character is first and foremost the initiator and organizer of mass terror, a terror that shook millions of families and even whole nations, and the founder of the GULAG system, which has become a symbol of crimes against humanity.  Therefore it is horrifying to even imagine, that according to the rules of the project, this man could be in the top 12 on the 1 of September and “election commercial spots” will be broadcasted for him on the Russian state television channel.

By the impact of independent mass media and the civil society the primary results of the vote has been challenged and the organizers have even suspended the voting for a period of time, and changed the rules in order to make them more fair.

However, no matter the result of the voting and the fairness of the procedure, the mere possibility of a popularizing campaign for Stalin in a country where the victims and descendants of victims of his terror are still alive is inadmissible. This is a worrying symptom of the fact that the Russian society has not learnt the historical lesson and shows that Russia, unlike many other countries with tragic totalitarian pasts, has not yet dealt with and thought through its history in an overall way and that Russia has not given the tragic events of the past the necessary historical assessment.

As far as we know, similar projects have taken place in other countries of Europe and the world; however in for example Germany, none of the third Reich politicians were allowed to participate in “elections”, since they have been declared criminals by their country. Taking into account all the differences between the German and Russian historical contexts, it is still important to note, that although the Russian society and state has admitted that there are millions of victims of unjust repressions, Russia has not yet made up its mind about hoe to treat the guilty.

Such understanding and acceptance by the Russian population of the responsibility for the crimes committed by our ancestors under the leadership of Joseph Stalin is not only a question of restoration of historical justice, but also the only way to rid ourselves of the ghost of Stalinism. The ghost that still has an impact on life in Russia and Russians reminding about the possibility of a return to the politics of repression and preventing us from surmounting the fear of the System that passes from generation to generation. The ghost that keeps the thought alive that it is admissible to sacrifice human lives in order to serve a greater good and that hinders us from normal relations with other countries that also suffered from the terror of Stalin.

 

We – young people of Russia and other countries – believe that it is of utter importance to start as soon as possible a broad discussion about the essence of Stalinism and to activate efforts to resurrect the historical memory of this tragic period; efforts that for many years have been made by the International association Memorial (www.memo.ru) and other human rights organizations.

We do not think it is possible to hide from the truth talking about the “economic wonder” and the “Great Victory” in the Second World War and to forget the price that was paid for them. The victims deserve to be remembered and the tormentors need to be condemned.

We fully agree with the words of Yury Orlov, the founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group and member of the YHRM Public Board: “I never claimed, and do not claim today that so many years after the Red Terror – no matter how horrible were the methods and the scale of the atrocities – that the elderly perpetrators should be punished or put in prison. The ex-leaders, members of Troikas, prosecutors, investigators, guards, false witnesses and the numerous writers and propagandists of terror – let them live. But they have to be publicly condemned. And all the wrongdoings, be the perpetrators dead or alive, should be publicly investigated”.

We are determined to continue the work that has been started by our colleagues in frames of the international campaign “Anti-Stalinism” (http://anti-stalinism.hrworld.ru) and the international action “Remember 1937!” (http://remember1937.hrworld.ru). The above described situation only emphasizes the importance of that work.

And we are convinced that if Joseph Stalin is acknowledged the “historical choice of Russia”, then that will be nearly the greatest shame of Russia.

 

That is why we ask all those who are against the return of the cult of Stalin and the occurrence of totalitarianism that he personifies to support our appeal.

 

You can:

1.    Send a letter to the leadership of the organizations that initiated the project “The name of Russia” and demand that they withdraw the candidacy of Joseph Stalin from the voting (respective contacts and names are attached).

2.    Visit the site of the “Anti-Stalinism” campaign (http://anti-stalinism.hrworld.ru) and electronically sign the petition about the need of creating an international public tribunal on the crimes of Stalinism.

3.    Help to inform people about our initiatives by sending this appeal to your friends, posting it in your blog or placing the banners of the “Anti-Stalinism” campaign and the action “Remember 1937!” on you websites.

 

On behalf of the working group of the international action “Remember 1937!”
and the initiative group of the international campaign “Anti-Stalinism”:

Anastasia Nikitina,

Elena Dudukina,

Konstantin Baranov,

Alexandra Nazarova,

Tatevik Gukasyan,

Irina Klimova,

Dmitri Makarova.