Silence, damned lists

The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations, Zhirinovets, Ivan Sukharev, asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to check the activities of the International Historical, Charitable and Human Rights Society Memorial, RT reports . The reason was the publication of the base "Personnel of the state security bodies of the USSR. 1935-1939".

Sukharev called the "dangerous provocation" of the "Memorial". "If this had published an official historical site or FSB website, it would not have raised so many questions. But this list published the" Memorial ", with the subtext, that all these people committed crimes in the 1930s. It is enough to see the name" reference about the Chekists of the era of great terror. "That is, with the light hand of the" Memorial "of the NKVD became military criminals and Stalinsky The executioners of the People’s Commissariat included a border guard, the fire guard, and the control of highways, and much more, much more!

According to the State Duma deputy, the publication may violate a number of articles of the Criminal Code, including 282 (inciting hatred on a social basis).

Sukharev also referred to the message of Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly. In it, the president called for unity . “It is unacceptable to drag the split, anger, resentment and bitterness of the past in our life today, in their own political and other interests to speculate on the tragedies that affected almost every family in Russia,” Putin said.

The memorial noted that they see nothing illegal in their activities. They did not comment on the demonstration of the deputy in NGOs in detail.

On November 24, the Memorial published on its website the reference book Andrei Zhukov on the personnel composition of the state security organs of the USSR at the end of the 30s. The directory provides brief information about 39,950 NKVD employees who received special titles of the state security system from the moment they are introduced in 1935 until the beginning of 1941. Particular attention is paid to the period from the fall of 1935 to the middle of 1939 - the book includes almost all persons who received specials at this time.

The preliminary version of the directory was published in May this year at the CD. Since then, by the time of publication of a book on the network, about 4.5 thousand articles were amended and additions.

“With the help of a reference book, it will become possible to attribute many state security officers of the Greater Terror era, still known only by last name (usually even without indicating the name and middle name) - from signatures in investigative affairs or from mention in memoirs,” the publication of the Memorial noted.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov in response to the question of whether it is worth publishing information about the NKVD employees, noted: "The topic is very sensitive. It is obvious that many are diverge here, there are diametrically opposite points of view, and both are very reasonable."

Later, the media reported that the descendants of the Chekists turned an open letter to the President demanding to close access to the database, as they fear the revenge of contemporaries for the repressed ancestors. Member of the board of "Memorial" Alexander Cherkasov, said that they would not delete publication.

"What can be based on the requirements for closing access to information? These are archival materials in which there is no information that does not correspond to reality. This is important information that has public importance. Moreover, for someone it is important information about relatives. I have already received letters, for example, from some of my friends who clarify the information about my relatives. And we have a story in which the victims of terror, but the performers of the terror, too, had the orientes of the terror. They had names, and they need to know them, ”Cherkasov said.