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The Heritage of Repression: Memory, Commemoration, and Politics in Post- Soviet Russia Margaret Anderson Comer Jesus College FeBruary 2019 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Declaration ▪ This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. ▪ It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. ▪ It does not exceed the prescribed word limit of 80,000 words for the Degree Committee for the Departments of Archaeology and Anthropology. Signed: i ‘The Heritage of Repression: Memory, Commemoration, and Politics in Post-Soviet Russia’ Margaret Anderson Comer Abstract This dissertation focuses on portrayals of victims and perpetrators at sites related to Soviet repression in contemporary Moscow and Yekaterinburg, Russia. Its aim is to explore the different ways in which site stakeholders choose to interpret victims and perpetrators: specifically, how they handle the issue of intertwined grieving and blaming when the categories of ‘victim’ and ‘perpetrator’ are not always clear. It also aims to understand the broader political and sociocultural attitudes underlying why different groups choose various forms of ‘grievability’ and ‘blameability’. Millions of Soviet citizens were victimized in successive waves of Soviet repression, yet there has been little critical study of the tangible and intangible heritage of these acts of violence as they are inscribed (or not) on today’s Russian cityscapes. The idea of ‘grievability’ was developed by Judith Butler; I have developed a typology of grievability that can be used to compare who is being grieved at each site and why each site’s caretakers and stakeholders make these choices. The dissertation then goes beyond grievability to introduce the concept of ‘blameability’, which I propose in order to analyze how blame is assigned at each site. I have developed a typology of blameability that can be used to categorize whom each site blames for the violence that affected the victims memorialized there. For each individual or group identified at a site, their respective degrees of grievability and blameability can be plotted on a chart, allowing for a more thorough and holistic view of how each site’s stakeholders view and portray the issue of intertwined victimhood and perpetration. Finally, the case study data are brought together in order to draw conclusions about overarching attitudes towards the tangible and intangible legacies of Soviet repression in Russia. Linked theorizations of ‘accountability’ and ‘repentability’ are also introduced and their ramifications addressed. ii Table of Contents Declaration………………………………………………………………………………i Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………..vii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………..ix List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………...x List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………xi Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….1 1.2 Sociohistorical Background: Soviet Repression and Contemporary Russia…..2 1.3 Research Questions and Rationales………………………………………………...5 1.4 Soviet and Stalinist Repression: Timelines and Definitions……………………..7 1.5 The Sites……………………………………………………………………………….10 1.6 Defining Repression and Determining Figures………………………………….12 1.7 Thesis Structure………………………………………………………………………14 Chapter 2: Methodology………………………………………………………………..17 2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..17 2.2 Heritage Studies: Definitions and Methods………………………………………17 2.3 Place, Authenticity, and Meaning in the Landscape…………………………….18 2.4 Evaluating Museums and Museological Displays……………………………….20 2.5 Research Design……………………………………………………………………..22 2.6 Positionality and Reflexivity………………………………………………………..26 2.7 Participant-Observer Ethnography………………………………………………..26 2.8 Webs of Meaning and Thick Description…………………………………………27 2.9 Ethics…………………………………………………………………………………..28 2.10 Difficulties and Course Corrections……………………………………………..29 2.11 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..32 Chapter 3: Historical Background…………………………………………………….33 3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................33 3.2 Tsarist Russia: 1600s-1917………………………………………………………...33 3.3 Civil War and Red Terror: 1918-1922……………………………………………35 3.4 Collectivization and the Beginning of the Gulag System: 1923-1935………..38 3.5 The Great Terror: 1936-38 ............................................................................. 41 3.6 The Great Patriotic War: 1939-1945 .............................................................. 44 iii 3.7 Stalin’s Death and the Thaw: Post-1953 ......................................................... 46 3.8 Conclusion…………… ............................................................................. .…...49 Chapter 4: Literature Review and Theoretical Background ....................................... 51 4.1 Introduction and Introducing ‘Grievability’ .................................................... 51 4.2 Dark Heritage Literature ................................................................................. 53 4.3 Studying and Exhibiting Perpetration and Victimhood ................................... 57 4.4 Typologies of Dark Heritage ........................................................................... 59 4.5 The Heritage of Repression on the Landscape: Presences and Absences ....... 61 4.6 Grievability ...................................................................................................... 64 4.7 Blameability ..................................................................................................... 69 4.8 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 71 Chapter 5: Yekaterinburg: Forgetting and Remembering Repression in the Urals. 72 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 72 5.2 A Short Biography of Yekaterinburg................................................................ 73 5.3 Case Studies ..................................................................................................... 75 5.3.1 12th Kilometer....................................................................................75 5.3.2 Church on Blood ............................................................................... 83 5.3.3 Ganina Yama and Piglet Ravine ....................................................... 86 5.3.4 Chekist City and the Wider Memorial Landscape ............................ 89 5.4 Forgetting and Remembering Repression ....................................................... 92 5.5 Hardware, Software, and Ghostware .............................................................. 93 5.6 Grievable Life .................................................................................................. 94 5.7 Blameable Life ................................................................................................. 96 5.8 Access, Infrastructure, and Funding – Pointed Differentials? ........................ 97 5.9 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 97 Chapter 6: ‘Official’ Sites of Memory in Moscow: An Abdication of Memory? ..... 100 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 100 6.2 Case Studies ................................................................................................... 103 6.2.1 Gulag Museum ................................................................................ 103 6.2.2 Wall of Grief ................................................................................... 111 6.2.3 Butovo Firing Range ....................................................................... 114 6.2.4 Kommunarka Firing Range ............................................................ 120 6.2.5 Noviy Donskoy Cemetery ................................................................ 128 6.3 Abdication at ‘Official’ Sites of Memory ....................................................... 131 iv 6.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 134 Chapter 7: ‘Unofficial’ Sites of Memory in Moscow: Absence and Accountability.135 7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 135 7.2 Ambivalence and Absence in the Memorial Landscape ................................ 136 7.3 Case Studies .................................................................................................. 137 7.3.1 The Solovetsky Stone and Surroundings ........................................ 137 7.3.2 Lubyanka Building ........................................................................