And the stone word fell

On the eve of the day of memory of the victims of political repressions in Moscow, the Solovetsky stone passes "Return of Names". Its participants, replacing each other, read the names of people who died during the Stalinist terror from 10 a.m. to 10 pm. Direct broadcast is on the action website.

The action takes place the tenth year in a row. For the first time since 2007, the International Memorial holds the “return of names” at the expense of the crowdfunding campaign.

Over the years of terror, more than 40 thousand people were shot in Moscow only in Moscow. "The totalitarian state did not just kill people - it sought to delete their names from history, destroy any memory of them. Returning names, the return of the memory of the sobbing and the dead is the denial of the dictatorship, this is our step to freedom," the organizers said.

Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights, opened the ceremony, Interfax reports . “There is a lot of pain, but you need to find courage in order to fulfill state repentance for the atrocities that were committed by the authorities during the years of repression,” she said. This is always the edification of other generations, young law enforcement officers, which is never true from laws and conscience. ”

The action was also attended by the head of the Presidential Council for Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov and ex-Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin.

On Saturday, Moscow also took place in Moscow Varlam Shalamov and Topography of Terror. Lubyanka and the surroundings.

On Saturday and Sunday, actions of the victims of political repressions will be held in St. Petersburg, Biysk, Bryansk, Vladimir, Yekaterinburg, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Murmansk, Orenburg, Penza, Rostov-Na-Don, Tomsk, Tula, as well as in Warsaw, Washington and London.

"In 1974, at the initiative of Kronid Lyubarsky, the day of October 30 was declared the day of the political prisoner in the USSR. The particular importance of this day was that it was not established by the state and was not connected with the wars or revolutions. On October 30, the political prisoners of the Mordovian and Perm camps - people who fought for freedom and defeated the High Council. The decision of the High Council. Russia dated October 18, 1991, which introduced the day of the political prisoner to the state calendar is the recognition of this victory, ”the memorial notes.