Audiobook | Names That Have Returned | Introduction & Essay One
Hello comrades, and welcome to Terror Calendar.
This episode is the introduction and first essay of a collection of six essays entitled Names That Have Returned: Writing on the Restructuring. Released in 1989, at the height of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's efforts to democratize Soviet society and reform the economy to address growing internal contradictions, known as Glasnost and Perestroika, respectively, under the Leadership of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.
Each essay covers a member of the Bolshevik Party who faced repression during the period of the Great Purge, roughly from 1936 to 1940, and specifically through the Moscow show trials of 1936, 1937, and 1938. Their names are Nikolai Bukharin, Alexey Rykov, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Grigory Sokolnikov, and Martemyan Ryutin.
The release of this episode coincides with the eve of the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repressions, October 30th, an annual day of remembrance and mourning for victims of Stalinist terror across the Russian Federation, though it is also observed internationally. Our introduction to the text touches on the history of this day and the significance of the Memorial society in the day's founding and their role in the period of Glasnost, generally.
Every October 29th, the eve of this day of remembrance, members of Memorial, activists, and others across the world gather to recite the names of these victims to "restore" or, indeed, return their names to them. This audiobook is how we hope to contribute to this lasting ritual. It is our way of honoring those who were failed by the new world they fought so hard to bring into existence, but whose ideals will continue to live on long past their deaths.
We had hoped to release the full book today, but circumstances have made it necessary for us to publish these essays one at a time (ideally once per week) until it is complete. We hope you enjoy this first essay by the journalist Lev Voskresensky on the life and work of Nikolai Bukharin, and thank listeners for their patience as we move forward into a new chapter of our own.
We look forward to bringing you more stories of the hundreds of thousands of people whose names must be returned.
