Original Material
Komi Fund "Pokayaniye" will publish martyrology again
According to a Chairman of the Foundation Board, historian Mikhail Rogachev in his comment to KomiOnline, Fund "Pokayaniye" will continue to publish martyrology "Pokayaniye"; the Government of the Republic agreed to allocate the money, but this decision is not documented yet.
"We have met with [the chairman of the State Council of the Komi Nadezhda] Dorofeeva, and with [the Minister of Mass Communications, Information and Communication of the region Mikhail] Poryadin; it was decided that "Pokayaniye" will publish martyrology, everything will return to normal, all that nonsense with the contest and the University will be canceled and will not be held any more. There is a subsidy, and Fund "Pokayaniye" will receive it. But it is necessary to alter the position on subsidies, and when it is ready, it will be given to us immediately so that we would apply for the subsidy. Actually, we did it each year before: we wrote a request, we were given the money, and we were accountable for them. Now there are only promises. After all these upheavals – a new ministry, which merged from two agencies, a new chief – they need time to sort out, to move away," Rogachev said.
In October 2015 at a meeting devoted to the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression, Rogachev told about the fact that the fund ran into problems and was forced to cease publication of martyrology. Historian associated it with a new funding scheme of martyrology, when Regional Agency for Press and Mass Communications announced a competition instead of a direct contract with the Fund "Pokayaniye". Then it was explained by the increasing efficiency of public spending.
According to "KomiOnline", the Syktyvkar State University was the only participant and the winner of this contest. Thus, "Pokayaniye" lost its funding, and could not produce the publication. The Fund transferred all the books and documents to the Komi National Library and the regional archive, some were transported to the chairman of the Board of "Pokayaniye" Mikhail Rogachev.
Signing a contract with the Syktyvkar State University should have been held on 28 September 2015, but this did not happen, probably because of the events that occurred on September 19 when the entire head of the authorities of Komi was arrested.
But the problems of the fund began even earlier, in December 2014. At that time, Agency for Press and Mass Communications of the Komi asked the Fund to vacate its premises in the House of the press. "Pokayaniye" did not do that, because the agency did not provide a suitable action in court.
In February 2015, the fund was invited to move to Syktyvkar State University and co-produce the martyrology with the Centre for Social and Political Studies of the university. But the members of the Fund Board have decided that they would not move, because it would be impossible to place the library and archive in SyktSU due to lack of space, and there were no judgment of eviction from the House of the Press.
Rogachev suggested why the university had to participate in the competition in his comment to KomiOnline:
"They wanted to move us to Syktyvkar State University from the beginning. SyktSU needed joint projects with NGOs for the image and for reporting, and for the money, too. They needed small innovative enterprises and manufacturing innovative enterprises. They could only be created together with someone. Perhaps, they decided that the fund and a book of memory are very convenient: there was a prepared project, frames. But instead of explaining what they wanted, and discussing it ... after all, who knew how it would have ended... they just started to force us, not to speak directly, in fact, to be eliminated and move to the university. We did not want to, because we were a public organization, we had other priorities. Then they began to slowly force us to do it, began to create some joint laboratories without notifying us about it. When we refused, asked to explain, we were evicted, so we quickly moved to the university. And then they said, "Well, then we will announce the contest". And only university could participate due to the terms of competition: the planned topic has been declared, and all the participants had to be candidates and doctors of science, it was impossible for a public organization. We even could not submit an application."
According to Rogachev, the Fund was notified that it would not be evicted anywhere, in return the organization would be offered another room, because the Ministry would take an entire third floor of the Press House.
"Pokayaniye" Foundation was established in 1998. Its main goal is the restoration of the historical truth and social justice for the victims of political repression, and perpetuation of their memory. The main the project of fund is preparation and publication of the Komi Republic martyrology of victims of political repressions "Pokayaniye". Ten volumes in 18 books were published from 1998 to 2014, they included more than 130 thousand biograms of different categories of the repressed (all volumes – thematic, devoted to a particular group of the repressed).
The fund is not limited to the publication of martyrology. In 2000–2015, the Fund (or with its participation) published 36 editions: series "Annex to martyrology "Pokayaniye" (ten issues), collections of articles, conference materials, bibliography on the history of political repression in the Komi Republic, booklets-reviews of the archives funds, guides of the series "Memories of the Gulag" (Inta, Pechora). All publications are distributed free of charge, mostly to schools, libraries, museums.