DARIA KHLEVNYUK - Stalin’s continuing, disputed legacy
The memory of Stalin’s
Terror is now receiving more attention in Russia than at any time since the
1980s. However, the scope of the debate needs to be widened still further,
argues Daria Khlevnyuk.
The Stalin epoch’s
influence on Russia is undeniable. Present-day Russians mainly live in a
country inherited from the Stalin-era Soviet Union, not least in terms of
infrastructure, architecture and social institutions.1 However, scholars, intellectuals and journalists
agree that Russian society has yet to thoroughly work through the totalitarian
legacy of Stalin’s era.2 Lately, a lot of work
has been done on this front. In 2017, a memorial to Stalin’s victims was
erected, while last year’s Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political
Repressions saw a record number of media outlets publishing pieces on Stalin’s
repressions.3The investigation by a private citizen, Denis Karagodin,
into his great-grandfather’s execution attracted a lot of attention from both
the national and international media.4
Yet despite the clear
and mounting evidence of Stalin’s repressions, Russians are clearly divided in
their attitudes towards him. According to a recent Levada-Center poll, Stalin’s
popularity is actually rising. Around 40 percent of respondents expressed positive
attitudes towards Stalin, while around one third agreed that Russia now needs a
leader like Stalin.5 The discrepancies in understanding the Stalin era
and associated repression can be explained with reference to generational gaps,
current politics and other such factors, but it is obvious that the memory of
Russia’s painful Stalinist past is far from homogeneous.
Even train passengers
on their way through the town of Segezha, in the Republic of Karelia in
north-western Russia, cannot avoid the smell of rotten eggs that permeates the
town – an effect of the sulphurous compounds produced by the local pulp and
paper mill. This mill was built with Gulag labour as part of the
Belomorsko-Baltiiskii Kombinat (BBK), a large industrial complex that stands
alongside the White Sea-Baltic Canal, a grandiose venture also built by Gulag
prisoners, without whom the costs to the state of such projects would have been
prohibitive. Segezha developed around industry built by prisoners, which is
served by a canal built by prisoners; the town itself was planned by imprisoned
architects and built by inmates.
The region of Karelia
is known not only for its paper-pulp facility but also for the prison colonies
that still exist here. In fact, the current Russian prison system replicates
the geography of the Soviet system,6 with some colonies and prisons inherited directly
from Soviet times.7 One of Segezha’s colonies became famous thanks to
its recent inmates. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the prominent Russian oligarch, spent
several years here. Two years ago, Ildar Dadin was dispatched to the same
colony after being sentenced under Russia’s strict laws governing street
protests. The echo of political repression does not stop here. Ildar Dadin’s
time in the colony led to a minor crisis when he stated that he had been
tortured.8
Dadin’s allegations
were discussed in the press, with several former inmates of the colony coming
forward to support his testimony9 and some of his fellow inmates staging a protest.10 The director of the colony stated that nothing of
the kind went on in his institution and that Dadin had lied to draw attention
to his case. However, one year on, the director retired and criminal charges
were brought against him for abusing his authority and extorting money from
prisoners.11Torture and other human rights violations in Russian
prisons are, unfortunately, common... read more:
