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A Russian human rights group Memorial released a list Wednesday of 640,000
victims of Soviet-era terror. Names listed in a CD-ROM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow, Russia
Wednesday, Nov 6, 2002: 11:25 AM ET
A Russian human rights group released a list Wednesday of 640,000 victims of
Soviet-era terror - a grim compilation meant to help people searching for
missing relatives.
The group, Memorial, said the victims were executed, sent to labor camps
where many perished, or deported. Most of the abuses occurred during the
reign Josef Stalin.
"Even now, tens of thousands of people are trying to discover the fate of
their loved ones," said Memorial member Arseny Roginsky. "We hope that this
will help them."
The names and brief biographical details of the victims are listed in a
CD-ROM, which also includes maps and information about the Soviet gulag, or
labor camp system, and the location of monuments to victims of Soviet
repression.
Alexander Yakovlev, a former adviser to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and
a member of the government's commission for rehabilitation of political
repression victims, said the list reminded people of the extent of the
terror.
"We've very quickly forgotten that as a result of this government terror,
millions and millions of people died," he said.
Russian officials have said they believe more than 20 million people were
victims of communist purges before Stalin's death in 1953. More than 10
million are said to have died.
The list was released a day before the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik
Revolution. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia renamed the
holiday the Day of Accord and Reconciliation. Each year, hundreds of people
turn out for marches and rallies, waving the red Soviet hammer-and-sickle
flag and expressing nostalgia for the communist past.
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