Authorities in Moscow announced in November 2024 that the city’s Gulag museum would be closing, citing alleged fire safety violations.
Now, it has been confirmed that the museum will reopen, but with a dramatically altered focus, according to Deutsche Welle.
Instead of documenting political repression during the Soviet era, the museum will be transformed into an exhibition dedicated to World War II.
The move will eliminate one of Russia’s last remaining institutions dedicated to acknowledging human rights abuses committed under Soviet rule.
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Critics Allege Putin Seeks to Rehabilitate Soviet History
President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are facing criticism from opponents who accuse them of systematically erasing evidence of human rights violations committed during the Soviet Union’s rule.
Some argue that the Kremlin aims to rehabilitate the Soviet Union’s reputation, and the closure of the museum – which for over 20 years displayed thousands of artifacts from Gulag victims – is seen as part of that effort.
The Gulag museum first opened in 2001.
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The new exhibition will instead focus on Nazi atrocities against Russians during World War II, as well as the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Germany.
“The new museum will feature an exhibition covering all stages of Nazi war crimes during the Great Patriotic War,” Moscow city authorities said in a statement, Deutsche Welle reported.
Millions Imprisoned in the Gulag System
The museum served as a memorial to the millions of people who were imprisoned in the Gulag, a network of Soviet forced labor camps that operated from the complete of World War I through the early 1950s.
The extensive network of Soviet prisons and labor camps spanned the entire Soviet Union.
Enemies of the state, criminals, and political dissidents were all sent to the camps, many of whom never returned.
MEMORIES: The museum’s exhibits detailed what life was like for those imprisoned in the Gulag. Photo: Vasily Maximov (AFP)
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