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CLASHING OVER COMMEMORATION the Memory Politics of Sandarmokh

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CLASHING OVER COMMEMORATION the Memory Politics of Sandarmokh CLASHING OVER COMMEMORATION The Memory Politics of Sandarmokh Tuomas Kallio Maisterintutkielma Valtio-oppi Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja filosofian laitos Humanistis- yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Jyväskylän yliopisto kevät 2021 TIIVISTELMÄ CLASHING OVER COMMEMORATION The Memory Politics of Sandarmokh Tuomas Kallio Valtio-oppi Maisterintutkielma Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja filosofian laitos Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Jyväskylän yliopisto Ohjaaja: Sergei Prozorov kevät 2021 86 sivua Tämä pro gradu- tutkielma tarkastelee, millaista muistin politiikkaa nyky-Venäjällä toteutetaan suhteessa Stalinin ajan vainoihin ja toiseen maailmansotaan, ja kuinka nämä kaikki kietoutuvat yhteen Sandarmohin joukkohaudasta käytävässä keskustelussa. Sandarmoh on Karjalan tasavallassa Koillis-Venäjällä sijaitseva joukkohauta Stalinin poliittisissa vainoissa vuosina 1937–38 teloitetuille vangeille. Vuonna 2016 läheiset siteet valtioon omaava Venäjän sotahistoriallinen seura esitti teorian, että suomalaiset sotilaat olisivat haudanneet Sandarmohiin teloittamiaan neuvostovankeja jatkosodan aikana. Teoria ei saanut tukea useilta venäläisiltä ja suomalaisilta historioitsijoilta. Sandarmohin parissa vuosikymmeniä työskennelleet historioitsijat Juri Dmitriev ja Sergei Koltyrin kritisoivat sotahistoriallisen seuran tulkintaa ja joutuivat molemmat vangituiksi. Tällä nähtiin olevan poliittinen motiivi monien mielestä. Tutkimusaihetta lähestytään sosiaalisen konstruktionismin näkökulmasta, sillä muistin politiikka on tietoisen kehityksen tulosta. Tutkielmassa käydään läpi, miten muistin politiikka vaikuttaa valtiossa historiankirjoitukseen, politiikkaan, muistomerkkeihin sekä diskursseihin. Aineistona toimii Sandarmohista käytävä yhteiskunnallinen keskustelu venäjänkielisessä mediassa, ja sen tarkastelumetodina käytetään Michel Foucaultin diskurssianalyysia. Tällainen analyysi tarkastelee diskurssiin liittyviä sääntöjä, kuin myös sen ulkoisia ja sisäisiä prosesseja, sekä sitä kuka keskusteluun saa ja ei saa osallistua. Tutkielmasta käy ilmi, että Venäjällä nämä kaksi historiallisesti toisiaan lähellä olevaa ajanjaksoa ovat hyvin erilaisessa asemassa. Siinä missä Stalinin vainoja käsitellään vähän ja jopa vältellen, on toinen maailmansota yksi tärkeimpiä historiallisia tapahtumia, myös poliittisesti. Tämä käy ilmi historiankirjoituksesta, yhteiskunnallisesta keskustelusta ja muistomerkkien määrästä. Sandarmoh on viimeaikaisten tapahtumien kautta päätynyt paikaksi, missä nämä kaksi muistoa kohtaavat, ja sielläkin on nähtävissä toisen maailmansodan muistojen ensisijaisuus. Aihetta sivuava diskurssi on myös rajattua, sillä vain valtion historiankäsitystä myötäilevät historioitsijat saavat tilaa, kun taas kriittisiä äänenpainoja esittävät voidaan sulkea keskustelusta tai leimata muuten epäluotettaviksi. Dmitrievin ja Koltyrinin vangitsemiset toimivat äärimmäisinä esimerkkeinä siitä, miten keskustelusta voidaan sulkea ulos. Stalinin vainot ovat Venäjän valtiolle epämieluisa muisto, joten se halutaan korvata toisen maailmansodan muistolla. Avainsanat: Venäjä, Sandarmoh, muistin politiikka, Stalinin vainot, toinen maailmansota ABSTRACT This Master’s Thesis discusses what kind of memory politics are conducted in modern-day Russia in relation to Stalinist repressions and World War II, and how these all come together in the discussion surrounding the mass grave of Sandarmokh located in the Karelian Republic of Northwestern Russia. It is a burial site for political prisoners who were executed during the Stalinist repressions of 1937-38. In 2016 Russian Military Historical Society with close ties to the Russian government presented a theory, that Finnish soldiers could have buried in Sandarmokh Soviet prisoners of war who were executed during the Finno-Russian Continuation War. This theory did not receive support from many Russian and Finnish historians. Two Russian historians who had worked for decades with Sandamokh, Yuri Dmitriev and Sergey Koltyrin, criticized the interpretation of the Military Historical Society and were both imprisoned. This was deemed by many to have a political motivation. The research topic is assessed from the point of view of Social Constructivism because memory politics is always a result of conscious actions. The research discusses, what kind of effects memory politics has in a state in relation to its historical writing, politics, commemoration and discourses. The research material consists of the societal discussion surrounding Sandarmokh in the Russian-language media, and the method used for its assessment is discourse analysis developed by Michel Foucault. This type of analysis takes into consideration the rules concerning discourse, both external and internal processes, and who can and cannot participate in the discussion. The research concludes that in Russia these two historical eras close to each other are in a very different position. Whereas the Stalinist repressions are discussed very little and even with avoidance, World War II is one of the most important historical events, also politically. This can be seen in historical writing, societal discussion and commemoration. Due to recent events Sandarmokh has become a place, where these two memories meet, and the primacy of World War II can also be noticed there. The discourse surrounding the topic is also restricted, as only those historians are given attention who support the state’s interpretation of history, whereas those who present criticism can be excluded from the discourse or labeled otherwise suspicious. The imprisonment of Dmitriev and Koltyrin is an extreme example of such exclusion. Stalinist repressions are an inconvenient memory for the Russian state, so the aim is to replace it with the memory of World War II. Keywords: Russia, Sandarmokh, memory politics, Stalinist repressions, World War II TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 3 1.1. Sandarmokh – a dispute over a mass grave ................................................................ 3 1.2. Research question and earlier research on the topic .................................................. 4 1.3. Method, sources and outline of the research ............................................................... 5 2. A TALE OF TWO HISTORICAL EPOCHS AND A MASS GRAVE CAUGHT BETWEEN – STALINIST REPRESSIONS, WORLD WAR II AND SANDARMOKH . 7 2.1. Stalinist repressions .................................................................................................... 7 2.2. World War II .................................................................................................................. 9 2.3.” People, do not kill each other” – the Great Terror in Karelian Republic and the discovery of Sandarmokh ................................................................................................... 10 2.4. Difference between the perception of Stalinist repressions and World War II in Russian society..................................................................................................................... 13 3. MEMORY POLITICS .................................................................................................... 16 3.1. Social constructivism – Nothing is there by a chance ............................................... 16 3.2. Memory of nations ....................................................................................................... 18 3.3. Memory and history – Who controls the past, controls the future? ....................... 21 3.4. Memory and politics – What can be justified with the past? ................................... 23 3.5. Commemoration and institutionalization .................................................................. 24 3.6. Discourses – What is and is not said ........................................................................... 27 3.7. Post-truth – When facts do not matter....................................................................... 29 4. MEMORY POLITICS IN RUSSIA .................................................................................. 32 4.1. A Tale of two historical epochs ................................................................................... 32 4.2. Make Soviet Union great again? ................................................................................. 38 4.3. Choose your side – Russia vs. others in interpreting World War II ....................... 40 4.4. The never-ending war .................................................................................................. 44 4.5. Sandarmokh - At the crossroads of memories .......................................................... 45 5. SANDARMOKH- WHERE STALINIST REPRESSIONS AND GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR MEET .................................................................................................... 47 5.1. Foreign agents of Memorial ........................................................................................ 47 5.2. Who killed who - Emerging theories about Sandarmokh ....................................... 50 1 5.3. “Ordered justice” – the arrests of Dmitriev and Koltyrin and the excavations in Sandarmokh ........................................................................................................................ 52 6. MEMORY POLITICS OF SANDARMOKH ............................................................... 58 6.1. Constructing memories – Nothing is forgotten and a historical amnesia ..............
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