Nanci Adler: Memorial – Telling oral history

Stalin’s Great Terror

At the time, between twelve and twenty million Russians disappeared as “enemies” of the regime in the gulag camps or were sentenced to death. Adler explains that, in the eyes of the Russian government, the research institute has gone too far in its investigation.

“The Memorial staff didn’t just want to investigate victims. They also wanted to publish information about the perpetrators. They wanted to say who had done it, who was guilty. And that is the system itself. That is a history that Putin is not very happy about.” According to Adler, the Russian government wants to control the writing of history itself and prefers to stick to a selective history of Russia without the dark chapters.
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In addition to historical research, the human rights wing of the movement is concerned with political prisoners today. That branch of the organization is also facing legal action. According to Adler, Memorial is not only rubbing Putin the wrong way, but also most Russians: “Talking about crimes from the past is one thing, but talking about crimes in the present, which are linked to a deep-rooted culture of oppression in the system, is something people don’t want to do.”