KNOW, NEVER FORGET, CONDEMN. AND FORGIVE

BACKGROUND

The topic of mass repression that took place all over the Soviet Union in the first half of the 20th century is still a matter of argument and controversy in the Russian society. There is no general consensus about this part of the national history. Opinion polls show that a large part of the population (about 40%) still considers that mass repression were necessary and justified.

Despite the fact that millions of people went through the GULAG system, millions died and that repression affected almost every family in the country, the society is still unable to talk about this topic.

The nation is split on the issue, and against this backdrop the Russian government approved in August 2015 the State Policy to Commemorate the Memory of Victims of Political Repression and the Russian President signed the Order “About the Implementation of a Memorial of Political Repression Victims.” This became reality thanks to the long-term work of public figures and human rights activists who have devoted themselves to commemorating victims of political repression.

The goal of the project was the reconciliation of the society in relation to the tragic pages of the Russian history in order to avoid their repetition in the future.

The design competition for the memorial was won by sculptor Georgy Frangulyan with the monument “The Wall of Grief.”

In 2016, the Memory Fund was established to support educational and research programs and activities aimed at commemorating the memory of mass repression victims. “The Wall of Grief” memorial became its first large-scale project: the Fund coordinated all the works related to the construction, conducted a public fundraising campaign and secured communication support for the project in general. The Moscow Government and the Presidential Executive Office also provided comprehensive support to the project.

The Fund’s communication campaign was designed to draw public attention to the topic of remembrance of the mass repression victims. The society needed to be prepared for the appearance of such a monument in Moscow. It was necessary to channel discussions about the attitude to political repression, making it unacceptable regardless of the political situation, views and beliefs.

The super-idea of the campaign was to establish social consensus about of the large scale of the tragedy that the country lived through with the sole goal of preventing its repetition in the future.

The project’s communication strategy and its implementation were done by the team of the Memory Fund, the Gulag History Museum and CROS. Taking into account the nature and social significance of the project, the CROS team participated in the project on a pro bono basis.

STRATEGY

The development of the project’s communication strategy started with a public opinion research, analysis of the media landscape and evaluation of the possible risks. This work allowed to come up with a certain approach to communications and to choose particular instruments.

It was important to consider the fact that it was a nonprofit project that should have been based on developing partner relations with the media, NGOs and nonprofit organizations, philanthropists and sponsors, public authorities.

Construction of the memorial and establishment of the Memory Fund together were the first project in the modern history of Russia, initiated by the society and supported by the state. The project had the goal of making commemoration of political repression victims a universal and nation-wide movement. One the one hand, it required the communication campaign to have as broad coverage as possible, and on the other hand, it had to have minimal and absolutely transparent costs since its implementation actually used private donations.

The communication campaign was linked to the sad anniversaries of 2017: the 100th anniversary of the revolution and the 80th anniversary of the “Great Purge.” The campaign was designed to have an extensive agenda with cultural and educational events aimed at commemorating victims of political repression before the opening of the first national memorial to political repression victims “The Wall of Grief” on 30 October 2017, the national day of remembrance of the victims of political repression.

“Know, never forget, condemn. And forgive” – these words by Natalia Solzhenitsyna, pronounced at one of the press events, reflect in the best way the core idea of the project and were used as the slogan of the campaign.

The official opening of “The Wall of Grief” memorial with the participation of the Russian President Vladimir Putin was the pinnacle event of the campaign.

Key tactics:

• Engaging in the campaign public opinion leaders, including experts, human rights activists, public figures, representatives of culture and arts.
• “Talking about terror without strain” – the campaign used very modest yet extremely expressive symbols, visualization and verbalization.
• Positioning the memorial’s creation as one of the main projects of the year in which anybody can take part.
• Using in communications only facts (social studies, historical documents and artefacts).
• “Head-to-head talk” in building communications with the audience.

RESULTS

The following results were achieved during the one-year communication campaign in support of the opening of the first national memorial to political repression victims “The Wall of Grief”:

• According to a VCIOM, by October 2017 the overwhelming majority of Russians (71%) thought that repression had mass character and was a result of deliberate policy of the USSR leadership. This lets us say that the society is moving towards consensus about repression being unacceptable.
• The Memory Fund raised over 45 mln rubles in donations. The Russian society did not come up to be indifferent to the project: the value of donations ranged from several dozens to several millions of rubles.
• The Memory Fund received President’s grant worth some 2 mln rubles for commemoration projects.
• The Fund’s initiatives to commemorate repression victims were welcomed in the Russian regions. In 2018, the Memory Fund is planning to establish a museum in the former NKVD secret police prison in Tomsk. The Fund will also continue commemoration activities in the Magadan and Irkutsk regions, Chukotka, Yakutia, Karelia and Komi.
• Russian media coverage of the topic of commemorating victims of political repression increased 10 times. Over 2 000 articles were printed in the federal, regional and top tier international media, including over 100 TV broadcasts on the largest federal channels. According to Medialogia monitoring system, the overall reach of publications, TV and radio broadcasts was 140 mln people.
• The total audience of digital communications amounted to 3 mln unique users. Video interviews with top directors, actors, journalists and musicians were viewed over 150 000 times.

The topic of mass repression of the 20th century cannot stand indifference. Thanks to the Memory Fund’s communication campaign in support of the opening of the first national memorial “The Wall of Grief,” people that have never heard about repression learned what it took place, while those who justify them got an opportunity to think again and change their attitude towards the tragedy. Perhaps, it made some people want to learn about the history of their own family.

“For all of us, for the future generations, it is very important to know and remember this tragic period in our history when classes and ethnic groups were made victims of the terrible persecution. Repression did not take mercy on talent, merits to the Fatherland or love for the country. Repression became a tragedy for the whole society, a violent blow on the nation, its roots, culture and self-identity. We still feel its consequences. The terrible past cannot be erased from the national memory. Neither can it be justified. No national welfare can be an excuse for such things. Our duty is not to tolerate oblivion. Remembrance, clear and common judgment of those terrible events are a strong precaution against the repetition of repression.”