Iuliia Iashchenko1; 1 La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Discussion
Historical policies in contemporary Russia aimed at censoring public history and declassifying archives are but an obvious symptom of the shortcomings of transition. Above all, the lack of transitional justice institutions has resulted in a failure to develop a culture of making sense of the totalitarian past.
The emergence of an "official narrative" has led to a tendency to justify the Stalinist regime and legalise repression against "enemies of the people" as public history is regulated directly by the state. Consequently, professional historians have limited rights to conduct public activities. There is also a third party shaping historical discourse today: the victims of repression and ethnic cleansing, as well as their families, who have different perceptions of the Soviet past within the framework of family and ethnic history.
It is important to look at the impact of historical politics, memory politics, and the failure of transitional justice on the collective memory of ethnic minorities who were victims of ethnic cleansing under Stalinism. Today, their narrative appears to be banned from public discussion as they are unable to share their experiences and are not entitled to commemorate their victims. So, there is a politicisation of interests anddgsss an unfolding conflict between collective memory and 'official history.
