Russian historians fear wrath of authorities for probing too deeply
MOSCOW — When the police stopped Mikhail Suprun's car last month, he did not expect to be questioned over his research into mass deportations that took place in Russia more than six decades ago.
But Suprun, a history professor in the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk, discovered that his research into the 1940s deportations had drawn the interest of the FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.
Briefly detained by the FSB, Suprun was told he was suspected of illegally publishing private information -- a charge he calls "absurd".
Agents also searched his apartment and seized his computer and personal archive, which held a trove of information about victims of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his brutal Gulag prison system...
... Some Russian historians fear that probing too deeply into the Stalin era may incur the wrath of today's authorities, who have made the positive portrayal of Soviet history part of their political agenda...
... Critics say the government has gone too far by taking steps to polish Stalin's image, such as a 2007 decision approving the use of a school textbook that praised his management style as "efficient".
The public seems increasingly sympathetic: last year Stalin took third place in a televised competition where viewers voted for the greatest Russian in history.
"This is all part of a creeping re-Stalinization, the return of his persona as a figure who is depicted not just in dark colours," said Irina Shcherbakova, a historian who researches the Gulag for the Memorial human rights group...
... Shcherbakova said people have become afraid to help Memorial, especially officials at state archives that contain Stalin-era files.
In the 1990s such archives were a rich source of information for historians, but they became much more reluctant to share documents after Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000...
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But Suprun, a history professor in the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk, discovered that his research into the 1940s deportations had drawn the interest of the FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.
Briefly detained by the FSB, Suprun was told he was suspected of illegally publishing private information -- a charge he calls "absurd".
Agents also searched his apartment and seized his computer and personal archive, which held a trove of information about victims of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his brutal Gulag prison system...
... Some Russian historians fear that probing too deeply into the Stalin era may incur the wrath of today's authorities, who have made the positive portrayal of Soviet history part of their political agenda...
... Critics say the government has gone too far by taking steps to polish Stalin's image, such as a 2007 decision approving the use of a school textbook that praised his management style as "efficient".
The public seems increasingly sympathetic: last year Stalin took third place in a televised competition where viewers voted for the greatest Russian in history.
"This is all part of a creeping re-Stalinization, the return of his persona as a figure who is depicted not just in dark colours," said Irina Shcherbakova, a historian who researches the Gulag for the Memorial human rights group...
... Shcherbakova said people have become afraid to help Memorial, especially officials at state archives that contain Stalin-era files.
In the 1990s such archives were a rich source of information for historians, but they became much more reluctant to share documents after Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000...