ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) – Russians paid individual tributes on Monday to the victims of Joseph Stalin’s purges, despite the establishment’s resistance to acknowledging Russia’s troubled past. Natalia Anafonova visited St Petersburg’s Levashov Cemetery to honor her great-grandfather and shared that his execution had devastating consequences for her family. Anafonova’s great-grandmother was left alone to raise four children after her husband was shot and she was expelled to Uglich, located approximately 740km away from St Petersburg. To commemorate his memory, the family chose to establish a memorial plaque at the cemetery.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has actively suppressed any critical appraisal of Stalin, offering praise instead for his role in saving the Soviet Union from Nazi invaders. Putin has also attempted to use this heroic narrative to justify his military operations in Ukraine, framing it as a defense against alleged Western attempts to dismantle Russia.
Nonetheless, many Russians still associate Stalin with the brutal repression of the Great Terror of 1936-1938, during which an estimated 700,000 to 1.2 million people, including Communist allies, military officers, intellectuals, professionals, and peasants, were killed.
Zinaida Gerchikova highlighted the significance of this remembrance day as she spoke about her father, whom she barely knew. She shared that her only memory of him was when he picked her up from the maternity hospital. Gerchikova does not know where her father was executed, but she received some leads at the Big House, the nickname for the former St Petersburg headquarters of Stalin’s secret police, known as the NKVD. The building later served as the Soviet KGB headquarters and now houses the Russian FSB.
In response to the lack of information and to support individuals like Gerchikova, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Memorial International was established during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Their mission was to record instances of political repression in the Soviet era and assist in the rehabilitation of its victims.
However, Memorial International was banned in Russia in 2021 as part of a longstanding campaign to suppress political dissent.
Sergei Gorshvo expressed concerns about the current state of society while paying his respects at the cemetery. He fears that the conditions for Stalin-like purges could resurface, stating, “They’re making clear to us that all that may come back. And that’s the scariest thing.”
(Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
