"This is the legacy of the Stalin regime"

In Arkhangelsk, the court fined the historian and coordinator of the "Last address" of Dmitry Kozlov - for installing a memorial plate in memory of the locksmith of Ignatius Bezonov, a repressed and executed resident of one of the houses in the city center. Kozlov was found guilty of violating the requirements of legislation on the protection of cultural heritage. The wooden house on which the plate was installed is a “newly identified monument of history and culture”, although it is listed in the lists for demolition. Dmitry Kozlov believes that the Arkhangelsk communists who have achieved the installation in the city of the monument to Stalin can stand in this story.

For Dmitry Kozlov, house number 35 on Serafimovich Street is special. His grandfather lived in him, his mother was born in him, people still live in him who remember their repressed neighbors. Journalist Sergei Parkhomenko, who invented the “last address”, says that this is the first time when the installation of the plate became the subject of the trial - and in total, the activists of the movement established hundreds of inhabitants in dozens of cities in Russia and abroad . The inspection for the protection of cultural heritage objects of the Arkhangelsk region considered that installing a plate in size of 11 by 19 centimeters can damage the facade of the building, although a plate is installed near the same self -tapping screws that the house is a monument of a regional culture.

Before installing the sign, the organizers of the promotion secured the support of all residents of the house. The day before the court, the Council of Human Rights under the President of Russia spoke in defense of Dmitry Kozlov. Perhaps that is why the judge did not demand the dismantling of the signs-now she is still hanging in her place. Now, activists of the "Last Address" intend to appeal the decision on a fine, simultaneously preparing all the necessary documents to agree on the installation of the sign.

In an interview with Radio Liberty, Dmitry Kozlov talks about the tragic stories of the inhabitants of the house No. 35 and about his view of the reasons for which the installation of a tablet in the memory of Ignatius Bezonov led to the first trial in the history of the Last Address.

- How do you assess the court decision? On the one hand, you were still found guilty. On the other hand, 15 thousand is not at all the same as 200 thousand, the maximum amount of the fine that threatened you under this article .

-Firstly , we will appeal the court decision. Secondly, yes, of course, this is not the worst option. The most important thing is that we were not obliged to dismantle the sign. The state of the monument, whether our screws really influenced the cladding and bearing logs-this still excites them to a lesser extent than the full observance of the entire application procedure and its consideration (the court decided, in particular, in the application of Dmitry Kozlov, there are not enough information about the type of screws, with which the activists of the “last address” intend to fix their tablet.

Next time we will apply in advance. They will be in advance, I mean the inspection [on the protection of cultural heritage objects], provide us with a list of all the necessary documents. We will cook them. Maybe this will take more time, but the next time the procedure will not be broken and new signs will appear, including on monuments in the Arkhangelsk region.

- How did today's meeting in this case go? Is it now known who complained about your tablet?

- Unfortunately, this was not said. The court relied on documents attached to the protocol. There is a report of a police officer who was present at the shares, and the correspondence that I conducted with the inspection. This was enough, in their opinion, to draw up a protocol.

-Could this complaint come from one of the inhabitants of the house?

- I think no. Because we talked with the residents before the installation, and after, offered them to go to court. They refused to go to court, but none of them spoke out against. Moreover, the house is really emergency. Now only two families live there. When we asked them, there were eight families. If we began to start this story later, there would be just an empty house. Plus, in December it should still be demolished, despite the fact that it is a monument. But here, I think, the inspection will already deal with those who have given permission to demolish, because information about this can be found on the website of the Housing and Public Utilities Reform Program.

Arkhangelsk, June 19, 2017. Dmitry Kozlov and residents of the house No. 35 on Serafimovich Street after installing a plate in memory of Ignatius Bezonov

- Did you plan to install a sign, already knowing that the house is an object of cultural heritage?

- We collected signatures from the residents. Then we tried to find out what needs to be done further, since the exact procedure of what exactly we need to be submitted to the inspection, the lists of documents - there is no one in the public domain. The defender rightly spoke about this [in court]. Since the lists of the necessary documents were not provided to us, the necessary terms were missed. As a result, we rested that it is impossible to resolve this lovely. We were warned, there really was a warning, but it was too late to cancel anything. Therefore, it all ended with the preparation of the protocol and the transfer of the protocol to the court.

- What do you think was the true cause of the problems that arose after installing this tablet?

-I can assume that this can somehow be due to the installation of the monument to Stalin in Arkhangelsk. Those forces that stand behind this really do not like when they talk about the 30s as a terror of terror, because before the weight and after it in the Archangelian social networks, some kind of Pasquili appeared in the blogosphere. I believe that one of these Pasquili could be sent, for example, to the prosecutor's office. And then the system was spun. There was a complaint to the inspection, they calmed down. Because before that, when we talked with Ivchenko (the head of the regional commission for the protection of monuments of the Arkhangelsk region Anna Ivchenko. - Approx. RS) at another monument, we had a completely normal understanding. And in court she said that she has no complaints about the maintenance of the action, she has claims to the procedural side of the application. Therefore, I do not think that this is her personal views. She complies with the law as it considers it necessary to observe it.

- What kind of "forces", "related to the installation of the monument to Stalin in Arkhangelsk"?

- These are the Communists, members of the Communist Party, including the representative of the Communist Party in the regional assembly, deputy [Alexander] Afanasyev, people who rally around him. As far as I understand, these are the Communists of such a Stalin spill and the non -partisan who considered themselves patriots who joined them. In the installation of the monument to Stalin and in the denial of repressions, they see a manifestation of their love for the motherland. These are people with their views.

The monument to Stalin was opened in Arkhangelsk in December 2016 in the parking of one of the business centers:

In Arkhangelsk, ordinary citizens erected a monument of Stalin's Independence: https://t.co/rymg2dhw93 #News #Stalin #Arkhangelsk #News Pic.twitter.com/vsyi07yuox

- Stretching (@okolokremlya) December 26, 2016

- What is known about Ignatius Bezonov? As I understand it, this is your personal story too. Your grandfather grew up in this house, your mother was born in it. The daughter of Ignatius Bezsonova, Lidia Ignatievna, you know since childhood. Ignatius Bezsonov was not the only repressed from this house?

- Certainly! This is the most amazing thing - that the Communist Party, which seems to be baking about the interests of the working class, at least on paper, opposes the plate to a simple worker. It is very strange to hear this from the Communists. Indeed, yes, my grandfather grew up in this house. Lidia Ignatievna was his neighbor. From childhood they were friends. They were familiar after the father of Lydia Ignatievna took for anti -constitutional propaganda. We have an assumption that this was associated with the enthusiasm of Ignatius Bezsonov with radio engineering. Perhaps this at one time did not suit someone, he was arrested and shot in early 1938. It is known that in the same winter of 1938 several of his neighbors were arrested. This is Zoya Ivanovna Voskresenskaya, sister Alexandra Ivanovna Voskresenskaya, known in the city of the teacher of the piano. Zoya Ivanovna was a translator. She was charged with espionage. But after some period of imprisonment in prison, she was released. And also at one time an employee of the NKVD, who also lived in this house, Mikhailov was released at one time. He was arrested for some time, but then, judging by the documents that are in the Memorial about the fate of the NKVD employees, he was obviously unclenched from the bodies - for contact with the former head of the NKVD in the Northern Territory, comrade [Rudolf] , who was shot in the same 1938. He managed to just leave for Leningrad and ceased to work in the organs, save his life. He died already during the blockade.

Zoya Ivanovna was a translator. She was charged with espionage

Then it turned out that one repressed also lived in a neighboring house. We will probably deal with this house. During the weightation, a woman came to us from another house standing nearby, and recalled that her grandfather brothers lived nearby and were arrested. In fact, indeed, in this barely preserved corner of the old Arkhangelsk, in these houses, in each, probably, one can find one, or even not one person arrested both the 20s and in the 30s. The "last address" is where to work here.

The porch of the house on Serafimovich Street, 35. The second half of the 1960s. Neighbors in a communal apartment. Photo from the family archive Dmitry Kozlov

- Will you seek the installation of other tablets on this house or tablets on neighboring houses?

- On this - no. Because we still do not have data that the people who lived there were not just repressed, but also died. This is very important for installation. We install only to the dead, that is, not all arrested. And about neighboring houses - yes, of course, we will. Moreover, these are not architectural monuments. And coordination will be easier - only with residents.

- Will you still fight for the house No. 35 on Serafimovich Street to be in proper form so that it is not demolished?

- Certainly. I think that here, first of all, it is necessary to attract the attention of the Arkhangelsk press. On the other hand, it is necessary to write all kinds of complaints to all possible instances that are responsible for both the state of the house as a monument and for the state of the house as a place of residence of people. Because, unfortunately, this is a shame for Arkhangelsk. This is a wooden city, wooden buildings are its symbol. In Arkhangelsk, wooden bridge, wooden houses, which are described by [Boris] Shergin, [Stepan] Pisakhov, near Yuri Kazakov. This is almost nothing left. In place of these houses, at best, fones of foam concrete lined with siding, in the worst case, are ridiculous boxes. And the most amazing thing is that representatives of the inspection today really spoke with pain in court about the fate of wooden and other monuments. But, unfortunately, many monuments are in a deplorable state and remain in it.

- relatively close to Arkhangelsk, in Karelia, is the burial of Sandarmokh, which was in the spotlight after the arrest of Yuri Dmitriev that found him. What do you think about this case?

- This is a terrible page in the modern history of our country. I think that she will enter the textbook when we talk about the tenths. These will be the years when Yuri Dmitriev was persecuted. Because I have no words that can adequately evaluate this obviously custom -made business. It is very disappointing and bitter that a person who has given all himself, his whole life to restore justice, the memory of innocently dead, executed, killed people is now in conclusion, and according to completely fabricated, dirty accusations. This is disgusting!

Historian Yuri Dmitriev, Head of the Karelian branch of the Society "Memorial"

-Do you see any parallels between Dmitriev’s case and the story that happened to you?

-No , still not. Thank God, here everything was limited to administrative persecution. Still, I have yet to write off all this to the literary understanding of the law and I do not see a direct political background here. I can suspect her, but if there was an order, I believe that it would end in a completely different way. Of course, I would not want to draw such a parallel. Everywhere there are people who do not accept the truth about the times of Stalin. But somewhere, as in the case of Sandarmokh, they managed to somehow use an administrative or some other resource. And here so far-just a foam that rises in local blogs, in some local social networks.

If there was an order, it would end in a completely different way

So far, fortunately, all activists are free. I hope that nothing will change in this regard. When the city considered the question of the monument to Stalin, the regional and city authorities represented by the governor and mayor spoke out quite clearly against establishing it. They did not speak out not to install it, but at least there was no support. Apparently, each region has its own history. Everything can turn, probably. But I really would not want to have an administrative or criminal case to be instituted in Arkhangelsk against one of us, against any other historian or just a person interested in his roots or memory of other people.

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"Sounded, tortured and executed"

-How is it that in Moscow they establish a large memorial of memory of the victims of repression in the very center of the city, and at the same time, from the regions, we constantly see some news about the small persecution of people who are trying to perpetuate the memory of the victims of repression, as in your case, or more large-scale and egregious cases, as in the case of Sandarmokh and Yuri Dmitriev?

- I suspect that partly this is also a legacy of the Stalin regime, but not direct. This does not mean that the heirs of those people are physically sitting now in the offices and they are Stalinists. No. The fact is that the system of terror and horror, which was then in the country, fetters the initiative. They are still afraid to sign something or use a permissive measure instead of a prohibitive. There are a lot of options for how to put sticks in the wheels to people who are trying to do something, thereby taking away a possible danger from themselves, which may not come, but they are alreadyware. It is easier to write out a fine. This fear of the initiative is also a direct legacy of Stalin's times. It seems to me that this explains a lot. Another thing is that there are stubborn Stalinists. Their views are as follows, and nothing to do with them. But there are a lot of people who do not relate to Stalin and are even ready to say that he is primarily a killer, and in the second - a talented politician, but at the same time they behave exactly the same as if they lived in 1937 and swore allegiance to him.