Solovetsky Stone

The Solovetsky Stone in Moscow (55°45′32.8″N 37°37′39.2″E / 55.759111°N 37.627556°E / 55.759111; 37.627556)
Solovetsky Stone in St. Petersburg (59°57′10.13″N 30°19′32.13″E / 59.9528139°N 30.3255917°E / 59.9528139; 30.3255917)

The Solovetsky Stone is a monument located in Lubyanka Square in Moscow, across from KGB headquarters. The monument consists of a large stone brought from the Solovetsky Islands, the location of Solovki prison camp, part of the Soviet Gulag system. The monument was erected in 1990 to honor victims of political suppression in the Soviet Union.

History

Gleb Yakunin performing a service for the victims of the Stalinist political repressions during the unveiling of the Solovetsky Stone in Lubyanka Square, Moscow, on October 30, 1990

According to the Russian NGO Memorial, the monument was erected on 30 October 1990 to commemorate a 1974 initiative by political prisoners to establish a "Day of Political Prisoners in the USSR."[1] In 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Russia officially established 30 October as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions.[2]

Another Solovetsky Stone was erected in the public garden on Troitskaya Square in Saint Petersburg in 2002. It was designed by Yevgeny Ukhnalyov and is officially known as the Memorial to the Victim of Political Repressions in Petrograd - Leningrad. The monument is a 10-tonne granite boulder taken 50 meters from the place of mass executions of the prisoners of the Solovki prison camp. The rock is set on a polished granite base with inscriptions "To prisoners of GULAG", "To victims of Communist Terror", "To Freedom Fighters" and a line from the "Requiem" poem of Anna Akhmatova: "I wish to call all of them by name, but ..." (Хотелось бы всех поименно назвать...) The monument was unveiled on 4 September 2002 in preparation for celebrations of 300 years of Saint Petersburg. [3] According to Solvki Encyclopedia Ukhnalyov and the architect of the memorial, State Duma deputy Yuly Rybakov, paid all the expenses personally including the transportation of the 10,400 kg boulder from the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. The Saint Petersburg city administration would not help finance the memorial despite significant budget allocated to celebrate the tercentenary of the city.[4]

References

  1. ↑ news.ru article, 23 February 2008 (in Russian), English translation
  2. ↑ Putin visits memorial to victims of Stalinist Great Terror, The New York Times, October 30, 2007
  3. ↑ Solovetsky Stone, monument, Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia. Accessed 17 August 2009
  4. ↑ Он установил в Питере Соловецкий камень Solovki Encyclopedia (in Russian)
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