Krasnoyarsk, 30th October 2011
12.00 Lecture on“honorary citizens of Krasnoyarsk». Direction – Ella Tsutskareva.
13.00 Round table «20 years - Law about the rehabilitation of victims of political repressions». The round-table conference is attended by representaties of the administrative center of internal affairs, the social welfare office, historians and experts.
Direction: Aleksey Babiy. Attendants:
15.00 Lecture about the inauguration of memorial places to the memory of victims of political repressions, which were erected in 2011. Direction - Vladimir Smolin.
15.30 Presentation of the travel guide «Political repressions in Krasnoyarsk». Direction – the authour of the travel guide - Aleksey Babiy. Project «Topography of the Terror» of the International „Memorial“ Organization – edition of a series of mini travel guides to various municipal objects, which are closely associated with the memorization of repressions during the rule of the Soviets. The travel guides are intended for school teachers, travel companions and experts of local history and geography. Due to this project six travel guieds about Krasnoyarsk, Syktyvkar, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Ryazan, Voronesh and Penza were published in 2011. The release of all six travel guides was realized in Krasnoyarsk by PIK „Offset“. Coordinator of the project – the Krasnoyarsk „Memorial“ Organization. The project was supported by À.Y. Lebedev, the «New Paper» and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
16.00 Opening of the photo exhibition «Vasiliy Grossman. Life and Fate». The exhibition is dedicated to the repressed writer Vasily Grossman and his novel. 30 placards concerning the novel epopee «Life and Fate» of this great writer show materials about all-day life in Stalingrad at that time, the main subject in Vasiliy Semyonovich Grossman’s opus, as well as numerous documents provided by the „Memorial“ Organization, permit to get an imagination of the tragedies which happened in German concentration camps and the Russian GULAG.
The exhibition was shown in the K. Pausovskiy-Library before – on the occasion of the International “Pilorama” Forum in the premises of the museum of the former «Perm-36» camp.
The novel „Life and Fate“ was written by Grossman as sequel of his opus «For a Just Cause” . He created his novel without considering any tabus or prohibitions, thus providing a ddep insight into Stalin’s era. Hence the author proves that any social compliancy is unachievable or that, due to the parameters involved, such a behaviour is nothing but betrayal.
In 1961 Grossman’s novel „Life and Fate“ was confiscated. Members of the KGB did not only seize the machine-written copies, but also the very first hand-written notes, drafts or not yet released chapters, as well as all preparatory materials and revised versions – even the copy paper he had been using. Thus, Grossman’s book remained unpublished in his lifteime.
17.00 Performance «The way towards fortune». Ensemble of the des Asov German-national District in the Omsk Region.
Stage play about the life of the Russian Germans between the late 1930s and the beginning of the 1940s. The play was based on real incidences, letters and memoirs of people, who survived deportation from the former Republic of the Volga-Germans in the August of 1941 and were then mobilized into the labour army. Moreover, some of the scenes were taken in the style of the theater trilogy by Viktor Heinz „On the waves of centuries“. The scenes representing different periods of time are framed by choreographic means and complemented by German folk songs and other songs which were usually sung in those years. The stage play reveals the long, hard way the German Russians had to go, through good and bad times, until, finally, fortune again favoured upon them.
The actors of the play were from the three leading ensembles of the Asov German-nationalen District in the Omsk Region: the ensemble of folksongs „Monika“, under the direction of Irina Molchanova, accompanyment Mikhail Molchanov, the „Bächlein“ dance ensemble, direction Marina Zhuzhgova and the national „ART ist“ theater under the direction of Aleksey Stajer.Altogether 16 people. The project was organized by the regional center of information and methodology of culture of the Russian Germans in the Omsk Region, director Julia Neufeld.
The play had been shown several times in Asovo, Omsk and even in other West Siberian cities before.
18.15 A wreath is solemnly lain down.
They are reading in the Book of Memory of the victims of political
repressions in the Krasnoyars Region.
18.30 Action „Memory of the heart“.
Little wrafts with burning candles are floating on the waters of the Yenisey.
Photos: Aleksey Babiy, Dmitriy Krasnopeev