Punishment for memory: the public is outraged by the demand to liquidate Memorial *

As you know, on November 11, 2021, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation demanded to liquidate the Memorial * International Historical, Educational, Human Rights and Charitable Society, recognized as a foreign agent, established in January 1989, that is, back in the USSR. The reason, according to prosecutors, is repeated violations of the law on "foreign agents". Now the Moscow prosecutor's office has also joined the process, calling for a ban on the Human Rights Center Memorial, recognized as a foreign agent, on the same grounds.

These initiatives of the security forces have caused a violent reaction on social networks. Bloggers write that this is a truly epoch-making event, which indicates that the country has finally slipped into a new ideological era. The very new, which is called the well-forgotten old. The goal is to destroy all competitors for historical memory and attitudes towards it. Abolish the very idea of respect for human rights and dignity, marking the primacy of the state over everything AGAIN. It is also sad that, as the vast historical experience tells us, all this, in the end, cannot have any other application than the military... "The matter, therefore, is for war," as Boris Grebenshchikov sang:

“We build happiness with an unyielding will,

The path is shown to us by the leader.

And, having washed THOSE banners from stains,

We're going THERE AGAIN"

Politician Boris Vishnevsky calls this decision a shame:

“The General Prosecutor's Office has filed a lawsuit to liquidate International Memorial *.

They say, they did not put the stigma “foreign agent” in each of their publications.

For this, they want to destroy one of the main human rights organizations in the country.

The heirs of Stalin's executioners, whose crimes Memorial * does not allow to forget, want to destroy it.

An indelible shame for those who demand the liquidation of Memorial *.

Shame and contempt - for those who invented the stigma of "foreign agents" and voted in the Duma for its introduction - for four Putin parties in different costumes: ER-LDPR-SR-KPRF.

Perhaps this will still make one of the adherents of the notorious "smart voting" think about it - who are ready to vote for some pro-Putin candidates on the whistle, just so that others do not pass. Well, there is no fundamental difference between them!

Yabloko went to the polls demanding that the concepts of “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations” be deleted from the law.

And he will achieve this with all his might..."

Journalist Andrey Nalgin is worried about the data bank that Memorial has collected over the years:

“For Memorial, the primary task now is to preserve the data bank of the repressed and their executioners, which has been collected over more than 30 years. The Chekist regime dreams that all this will be erased from the memory of generations.

For this, in fact, they gave, in fact, a life sentence to Yuri Dmitriev. To erase not only himself, but also what he devoted his life to. In general, historians of the Soviet period are now at great risk, they are the first enemies of the Chekists.

Imagine if, after the destruction of Memorial, the next step would be the adoption of a law on criminal liability for mentioning Stalinist repressions. Or for belittling Soviet achievements. Or about insulting the memory of the Chekists, these holy people. Nobody will be surprised, I think ... "

Journalist Oleg Kashin writes on the website of another foreign Internet "Republic" *:

“The threat of the liquidation of Memorial * falls out of the general range of state attacks on Russian public institutions and looks unprecedented and unique; if we speak in a language understandable to the state - with the same success it would be possible to demolish the prayed temple, extinguish the eternal flame, and destroy the grave. All previous pogrom operations against political and public organizations, media editorial offices, scientific and educational institutions, no matter how painful they were, still did not go beyond the boundaries of direct relations between the state and those who do not like it. Here, in addition to the state and those whom it destroys, a third subject appears - incorporeal, incorporeal, but very clearly visible. Perhaps such a comparison will sound unpleasant for Memorial *, but the closest analogue of an attack on it is repression against religious organizations, primarily Jehovah's Witnesses, but also those Muslims (Crimean Mejlis *, Hizbuts *, etc.) ) in our country they are politically motivated as terrorists or extremists. No matter how monstrous it may sound, persecution for faith is already a familiar part of Russian reality, and it is worth noting that even if small, non-influential, unsympathetic communities are repressed, and even if one believer is imprisoned for faith, this automatically translates all other believers into much a more humiliating category than even prison, from now on they are those who are allowed to believe, are allowed; however, this is a topic for a separate conversation, which, perhaps, there is no one to carry on, just let's not forget - some are imprisoned for their faith in Russia.

And now there is a new, so far unusual chapter - when they punish for memory. There is, of course, an element of our eternal damned uncertainty, when theoretically it can be assumed that some fish-eyed official, who does not delve into the context, saw in his reference book that some human rights defenders do not comply with the requirements of the foreign agency law, imposed a resolution, and the soulless mechanism was soulless creaked, but we have to admit that the probability of such an explanation is vanishingly small, and we are not talking about a soulless mechanism, but about living and understanding people who have both a head and a heart and hands (cold, hot and clean, respectively; by their corporate saying), and there is also a soul - just black, as they say in such cases ... "

Philologist and lecturer Mikhail Pavlovets explained how the closure of Memorial threatens society:

“Those who now openly scoff at this or secretly rejoice do not recognize the obvious: Memorial, Last Address, etc., are primarily about the value of the life of an ordinary, ordinary person.

Without this work, there will be no normal medicine in the country, where they treat in hospitals without humiliation or robbery: normal medicine is impossible where human life is devalued. There will be no education with schools where your child will run in the morning and then talk excitedly about the past day at a family dinner. I'm not talking about the police, which you can turn to without fear for help in difficult times.

Please do not hope that you will buy normal medicine, school, police for yourself and your loved ones. Do not buy! Do not touch Memorial, do not rip off the Last Address signs - give yourself a chance not to be mutilated in a hospital bed or in a police lock-up, take care of your parents and your children..."

The Public Verdict Foundation * published a statement in which it demanded that the claim for the liquidation of Memorial International be dismissed:

“The General Prosecutor's Office has filed a lawsuit to liquidate the International Memorial Society. According to the ministry, Memorial International is guilty of “systematic violation of the law on“ foreign agents ”. The trial is scheduled for November 25.

We are convinced that this is a political decision aimed at destroying the largest human rights and educational organization in Russia. And what we have no doubt about is that Memorial International is systematically, professionally and honestly doing its job to preserve memory and restore historical justice.

Memorial today is not only the main independent source of information about our history, but also the preservation of a complex and terrible memory of Soviet repressions and Stalinist terror. This is education, which is very much needed by Russian society, lessons from the past, protecting from repetitions, attempts of which we can observe today. Memoryless societies that deny their past have no future.

After all, as long as we remember the terrible pages of our history and are not afraid to assess them, there is a hope that this will not happen again in the future. The liquidation lawsuit is a clear demonstration of the desire to erase everything from our life, to consign it to oblivion. This is an act directed against Russian society.

We are proud that Memorial International is one of the founders of the Public Verdict Foundation. Throughout our life, we have constantly felt the participation, support and help of our colleagues from Memorial, have always considered and still consider Memorial to be our important partner.

We express our support and solidarity to our colleagues. The liquidation claim must be dismissed..."

* All organizations marked with asterisks are recognized as foreign agents on the territory of the Russian Federation.