‘Returning the Names’

Memorial’s annual commemoration of Great Terror victims takes place despite pandemic and lockdown

Since 2007, on October 29, the Memorial Human Rights Center has organized “Returning the Names” — an annual commemorative event dedicated to victims of Soviet-era repressions. In past years, participants read out the names of victims of Joseph Stalin’s Great Terror at the Solovetsky Stone in Moscow’s Lubyanka Square. But, due to the coronavirus pandemic, “Returning the Names” has taken on a different format since 2020. Rather than gathering together, participants were asked to record videos in historical or symbolic locations, and send them to the organizers to be broadcast in a live stream. The commemoration is taking place from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Moscow time, today, on the eve of Russia’s Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression. You can watch the broadcast below. Details on how to participate in the commemoration are available in Russian here.