Vladimir Ryzhkov: The Wrong Kind of Monument
[Vladimir Ryzhkov, a State Duma deputy from 1993 to 2007, hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.]
History has always been an inflammatory topic in Russia, and this is particularly true when the topic of discussion is whether the Soviet Union played a positive role in history.
On Wednesday, for example, the Georgian parliament approved a resolution making Feb. 25, 1921 — the day Georgia was incorporated into the Soviet Union — “Soviet Occupation Day.” Several weeks before that, Moldova’s acting president, Mihai Ghimpu, proclaimed “Soviet Occupation Day” on June 28. In January, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, just before he was lost his re-election bid, conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine on anti-Soviet, nationalist leader Stepan Bandera. In the Baltic states, anti-Soviet and anti-Russian sentiment surrounding the five decades of Soviet occupation and the high number of subsequent executions, deportations and imprisonment of Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians has not abated — and perhaps increased — in the past 20 years. In Poland, the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Polish officers were executed by the NKVD, has served as a central historical event that Poles have used to call the world’s attention to Soviet crimes.
These are just a few of the numerous historical debates dividing Russia, the former Soviet republics and the Warsaw Pact countries regarding the history of the Soviet era, the role of Stalin and Lenin and the criminal nature of the Soviet Union itself.
How has Russia handled the divisive issue of Soviet repression, executions, deportations and other government crimes? As for crimes against the citizens of other countries, the Russian leadership during the past year took a large step forward when it finally acknowledged the full tragedy that occurred at Katyn. In a number of speeches, both the president and the prime minister directly and unambiguously condemned the Stalinist regime and its crimes against its own people.
But what have the leaders done to acknowledge the crimes against Russia’s own citizens? Overcoming the diverse legacy of dictatorship requires the state and society to make long-term and whole-hearted efforts toward the reconstruction, understanding and acceptance of historical truth. Only that will make it possible to fully consolidate the Russian state and society on a free and democratic foundation.
To achieve that, Russia must create and continually develop an extensive and modern “infrastructure of remembrance” to mark the crimes committed by the Soviet regime, just as post-World War II Germany has done...
Read entire article at Moscow Times
History has always been an inflammatory topic in Russia, and this is particularly true when the topic of discussion is whether the Soviet Union played a positive role in history.
On Wednesday, for example, the Georgian parliament approved a resolution making Feb. 25, 1921 — the day Georgia was incorporated into the Soviet Union — “Soviet Occupation Day.” Several weeks before that, Moldova’s acting president, Mihai Ghimpu, proclaimed “Soviet Occupation Day” on June 28. In January, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, just before he was lost his re-election bid, conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine on anti-Soviet, nationalist leader Stepan Bandera. In the Baltic states, anti-Soviet and anti-Russian sentiment surrounding the five decades of Soviet occupation and the high number of subsequent executions, deportations and imprisonment of Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians has not abated — and perhaps increased — in the past 20 years. In Poland, the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Polish officers were executed by the NKVD, has served as a central historical event that Poles have used to call the world’s attention to Soviet crimes.
These are just a few of the numerous historical debates dividing Russia, the former Soviet republics and the Warsaw Pact countries regarding the history of the Soviet era, the role of Stalin and Lenin and the criminal nature of the Soviet Union itself.
How has Russia handled the divisive issue of Soviet repression, executions, deportations and other government crimes? As for crimes against the citizens of other countries, the Russian leadership during the past year took a large step forward when it finally acknowledged the full tragedy that occurred at Katyn. In a number of speeches, both the president and the prime minister directly and unambiguously condemned the Stalinist regime and its crimes against its own people.
But what have the leaders done to acknowledge the crimes against Russia’s own citizens? Overcoming the diverse legacy of dictatorship requires the state and society to make long-term and whole-hearted efforts toward the reconstruction, understanding and acceptance of historical truth. Only that will make it possible to fully consolidate the Russian state and society on a free and democratic foundation.
To achieve that, Russia must create and continually develop an extensive and modern “infrastructure of remembrance” to mark the crimes committed by the Soviet regime, just as post-World War II Germany has done...