There are still books on the shelves in the house that Memorial owns in the center of Moscow. But everything the organization has as documents of the several thousand victims of terror and political persecution has been moved to safer places. Jan Raczynskij sits here and talks about how President Vladimir Putin is divided in his stance on political repression. – There is nothing that justifies these crimes, Putin said when he opened the monument to the Western Wall in Moscow in October 2017. A wall of nameless and emaciated people carved in stone, which stands there in memory of those killed and imprisoned during Stalin’s regime of terror. President Vladimir Putin speaks at the “Mourning Wall” in Moscow on October 30, 2017. Photo: Kremlin photo pool – Political oppression became a tragedy for our entire people, for our entire society. It is our duty not to forgive as time passes, to preserve the memories of these abominable events in our memory, as a clear warning against their repetition. So it was the president’s words that at least approved that parts of the human rights organization Memorial were forcibly disbanded. In addition to the International Memorial and the Center for Human Rights. Among other things, they work to help political prisoners in today’s Russia. The Supreme Court’s reasoning was that they did not inform readers often enough that they were classified as “foreign agents” by the authorities. – Putin is quite sincere in his condemnation of the repression under Stalin. But he doesn’t want to understand the reasons, and he doesn’t see that what he does today is really the same, says Jan Rachinskij to news. President Putin speaks during a reception for new ambassadors in the Alexander Hall in the Kremlin, September 20, 2022. The hall is a reminder of the power of the state under changing Russian regimes. Photo: PAVEL BEDNYAKOV / AFP – Never liked the Memorial The Peace Prize winner believes that Putin has never liked the Memorial, despite everything the organization has done to preserve the memories of the political crimes. – For Putin’s main idea, it is the State. The state is above everything. People – they are just building material for him, says Raczynskij. From 2012, first organisations, later also the media and individuals, who receive money from foreign sources, risked being classified as a “foreign agent”. So-called “agents” must disclose their involuntary status on everything they post, whether it’s messages on social media or major publications. From 1 December it is enough to be under “foreign influence”, for example by collaborating with foreigners. Editor Dmitrij Muratov thanks for the peace prize during the award ceremony on 10 December last year. After the war started in Ukraine, he was forced to close the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Russia. He himself moved to Latvia, where he publishes Novaya Gazeta Europe. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB 12 million victims “Memorial” can best be translated as “memorial grove”. For over thirty years, the organization has worked to document murders, imprisonments and disappearances in Russia. Under Lenin and Stalin it happened in the name of revolution. But it didn’t stop there, and it’s still dangerous to be oppositional. – 1.2 million people were shot and four and a half million were sent to forced labor in penal colonies during the Soviet era. The vast majority under Lenin and Stalin, says Raczynskij. We talk while he shows news the wall with books full of short biographies of people who were executed or sent to the camps in the east and north. The prisoners were used to build the country. They were the ones who were sent down into the mines to collect precious metals in the north. They were the ones who built the Soviet heavy industry. And it was the prisoners who provided the canals that connected the sea and rivers into solid waterways. The Kvitsjøkanalen, which connected Kvitsjøen in the Arctic Ocean with the Baltic Sea, was built within 20 months. Around 25,000 prisoners died during the work on the canal. In addition, six and a half million people were deported east because they owned too much land or belonged to the wrong nationality, such as Crimean Tatars or Chechens. There will be over 12 million people, in addition to those who died of starvation as a result of forced collectivisation. Josef Stalin led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He was merciless against those he believed could threaten the state, the communist ideology or his own position. The grandfather shot Party leader Josef Stalin saw enemies everywhere. In the years from 1937 until the Second World War, around 700,000 Russians were shot, many of them officers and men of fighting age. – My grandfather was one of those who was shot, as was my grandmother’s brother. My grandfather should have been shot, but survived because the death penalty was abolished. That is why my mother came into the world, and I. Jan Raczynskij laughs a short laugh. He almost seems a little embarrassed to be so private. Jan Rachinskij shows news one of the books with lists of victims of Stalin’s oppression. The book is one of several volumes from the Republic of Komi in North-West Russia. Photo: Yuri Linkevich / news Racinskij has worked for Memorial since before Putin became president in 2000. But despite the party speech about “never forgetting”, he believes that they have never seen anything really positive happen under Putin’s leadership. – Now is not Memorial’s time Out on the streets of Moscow, it is not so easy to get people to talk about Memorial and political repression. But a well-grown couple is happy to talk to news. – When we had calmer conditions, maybe Memorial wasn’t so stupid. But in today’s situation, when the world is divided into different camps, Memorial becomes more like an anti-Russian organisation, says Igor Gregorovitch. – It is not the right moment to remember the political repression. Now one must instead calm people down and seek consensus, not incite people, says his wife, Lena Vasiljevna. Igor Gregorevich (th) and Lena Vasiljevna will not focus on political repression now that Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine. Photo: Gro Holm / news – The war is barbaric Memorials Jan Ratčinskij belongs to the minority who are outspoken opponents of the war. – What is now happening in Ukraine is barbaric. It is not genocide, as it was with the Nazis. But it is about suppressing a people’s right to exist. It is punishable by up to 15 years in prison to spread “false information” about Russia’s armed forces and what the authorities call the “special operation” in Ukraine. But there is no doubt what Raczynskij means. – Is it possible to defend political prisoners in Russia without risking being labeled and perhaps imprisoned? – Yes, there are lawyers and activists who help inmates. We do not have the extent of repression that we had in the Soviet period, says the peace prize winner’s spokesman. From the start, Memorial was a collection of equal organizations under one umbrella. Many of them continue to exist around the country. But it is risky. Because the authorities have wide powers to crack down on people without any form of legal treatment. There are still books on the shelves in the house that Memorial owns in the center of Moscow. But several thousand documents concerning victims of terror and political persecution have been moved to safer locations. Photo: Jurij Linkevitsj / news – And we are dissolved. The International Memorial is not even listed in the business register. We cannot pay employees, says Raczynskij. But they still have the house. According to Raczynskij, they have the law on their side when they want to give the property to an organization that “works for the same purpose”. The state does not agree and wants to confiscate the property. And the “state”, that is Putin and those he prefers to rule with.
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For Putin, the state is superior to everything – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
