St. Petersburg plaques commemorating Soviet purge victims ruled ‘illegal’

City authorities in St. Petersburg have ruled that plaques commemorating victims of Soviet persecutions are “inexpedient” and “illegal” and should be removed from the streets.

The City Committee for Development and Architecture announced its ruling in an official letter that was posted on December 6…

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“Stalin centres” are popping up across Russia as Vladimir Putin tries to rehabilitate the reputation of the Soviet dictator. The centres are being built in Russia’s biggest cities to reposition… ∞

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The Bolsheviks canceled the Church; however, at first, they appealed to old religious rites that people were used to, filling them with new, communist meanings. (more…)

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According to a famous Soviet joke, Stalin left his will in three envelopes. That is how it was in the original version. The first envelope – “open immediately after death”… ∞

How the Brits turned over the Cossacks who had fought for Hitler to the Soviet Union

At the very end of the war, tens of thousands of Cossacks who had fought for Germany surrendered to the British. They were certain that, in this way, they could… ∞

Plaques commemorating Gulag victims disappear around Moscow

Plaques honoring the victims of the Soviet gulag forced labor camps have started to disappear from buildings across Moscow, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday. (more…)

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Memorials

St. Petersburg plaques commemorating Soviet purge victims ruled ‘illegal’