50 years ago in Russia
Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 2:50 pmMOSCOW (AP) - Survivors marked the 50th anniversary of a revolt in a Stalin-era prison camp Tuesday, recalling how troops crushed the rebellion with tanks and machine guns - and urging society to face up to Soviet atrocities.
The Kremlin sent in soldiers to suppress the 40-day rebellion in the Kengir camp in the then-Soviet republic of Kazakhstan in 1954.
According to prisoner accounts, up to 600 people were killed and many more injured, although official statistics acknowledged only several dozen victims.
``They crushed us with tanks, with guns and machine guns, and because the crowd was thick, a burst of gunfire would knock out a dozen of us,'' said Igor Sobolev, who participated in the revolt. ``But it was a great feeling of freeing one's spirit.''
Sobolev served 8 years at Kengir, where many inmates were political prisoners, after being convicted of ``anti-Soviet activity'' for taking part in a student association that promoted private property.
``In our society there is no acknowledgment and no repentance of what happened,'' said Natalya Solzhenitsyn, wife of writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who won the Nobel Prize for his accounts of Josef Stalin's repressions and labor camps.
Solzhenitsyn, who manages her husband's Russian Public Foundation, joined human rights activists and gulag survivors in Moscow to commemorate the uprising.
While paying tribute to those who died in the Kengir uprising and other victims of Stalin's terror, former prisoners said Russian society today is turning a blind eye to atrocities.
Semyon Vilensky, head of the Return foundation and a former Stalin-era prisoner, said history books make little mention of victims of the Communist regime.
President Vladimir Putin has sought to restore Russia's glory by reverting to Soviet-era symbols such as the Soviet anthem - albeit with new lyrics - and the Soviet-era red star as the military's emblem.
But critics say the revivals send a troubling signal, especially since Putin has avoided drawing attention to crimes committed by the Soviet leadership.
Putin, however, has said he hopes the resurrected symbols will help mend deep rifts in society and evoke feelings of patriotism and optimism.
Vilensky said textbooks should commemorate events such as the prison camp uprising as symbols of the quest for freedom.
``We have forgotten the most important and positive thing in our history,'' Vilensky said.
Lest we forget, at our peril
The Kremlin sent in soldiers to suppress the 40-day rebellion in the Kengir camp in the then-Soviet republic of Kazakhstan in 1954.
According to prisoner accounts, up to 600 people were killed and many more injured, although official statistics acknowledged only several dozen victims.
``They crushed us with tanks, with guns and machine guns, and because the crowd was thick, a burst of gunfire would knock out a dozen of us,'' said Igor Sobolev, who participated in the revolt. ``But it was a great feeling of freeing one's spirit.''
Sobolev served 8 years at Kengir, where many inmates were political prisoners, after being convicted of ``anti-Soviet activity'' for taking part in a student association that promoted private property.
``In our society there is no acknowledgment and no repentance of what happened,'' said Natalya Solzhenitsyn, wife of writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who won the Nobel Prize for his accounts of Josef Stalin's repressions and labor camps.
Solzhenitsyn, who manages her husband's Russian Public Foundation, joined human rights activists and gulag survivors in Moscow to commemorate the uprising.
While paying tribute to those who died in the Kengir uprising and other victims of Stalin's terror, former prisoners said Russian society today is turning a blind eye to atrocities.
Semyon Vilensky, head of the Return foundation and a former Stalin-era prisoner, said history books make little mention of victims of the Communist regime.
President Vladimir Putin has sought to restore Russia's glory by reverting to Soviet-era symbols such as the Soviet anthem - albeit with new lyrics - and the Soviet-era red star as the military's emblem.
But critics say the revivals send a troubling signal, especially since Putin has avoided drawing attention to crimes committed by the Soviet leadership.
Putin, however, has said he hopes the resurrected symbols will help mend deep rifts in society and evoke feelings of patriotism and optimism.
Vilensky said textbooks should commemorate events such as the prison camp uprising as symbols of the quest for freedom.
``We have forgotten the most important and positive thing in our history,'' Vilensky said.
Lest we forget, at our peril
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