Свидетели

In a society where accessibility was nearly nonexistent, life for families with disabled members in the Soviet Union was a relentless struggle. Here’s a powerful fragment from an interview with Yura Astakhov (Boston, USA) conducted by Gregory Antimony in our studio. Yura is the son of Yuri Georgievich Astakhov, one of the founders of the…

At the «Amazing Cat» Art Center, the premiere of the films «The Case of the Executed Pioneers» and «The Wheel of Repression» took place. These films are part of the series «GULAG. Witnesses», produced by ECGProductions based on the book by Anna Artemyeva and Elena Racheva, «58th: Unseized».  The role of Susanna Pechuro is played…

In the Borovichsky district of the Novgorod region, unknown individuals demolished memorials to Polish and other foreign prisoners of war who were held in an NKVD camp in the village of Egla in the 1940s. The deceased prisoners were buried in 177 mass graves at the local cemetery. According to camp records, 465 people are…

In today’s Russia, everything related to the topic of repressions and the Gulag is gradually being banned. The work we started more than five years ago is becoming increasingly relevant. We collect these testimonies to restore justice and remind people of the unpaid debt our memory owes to the millions of victims. One such story…

For the third time, our company, which has been working for several years on the project «GULAG. Witnesses,» is organizing the «Return of Names» event in Toronto at the Raoul Wallenberg Monument. Wallenberg, risking his life during the Holocaust, saved tens of thousands of people but was later arrested and disappeared in Stalin’s prisons. This…

From the clash of mentalities to the historical truth about Russia’s stance on Ukraine, Zhanna Kryzhanovska, the daughter of political prisoner and human rights activist Mykola Bereslavsky, reveals the deep roots of the conflict. She explores the long-standing imperial propaganda aimed at eroding Ukrainian national consciousness. Yet, despite all the trials, Ukraine continues to fight…

In the winter of 1969, in Kyiv, protesting against the USSR’s Russification policy and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Mykola Bereslavskyi attempted to self-immolate but was arrested and sentenced. The family was accused of espionage, with rumors spreading in the village that «a secret tunnel led from our house to America…» His daughter Zhanna Kryzhanovska…

In this fragment of the interview, Zhanna Kryzhanovska shares personal stories about her father’s fight to preserve Ukrainian identity. From secretly listening to foreign radio stations to the radical act of self-immolation, Mykola Bereslavsky remained a symbol of resistance against the Soviet regime. Zhanna reflects on his motives, his protests against the closure of Ukrainian…

«My father remembered how the teachers were starving, sitting with swollen legs, and asking students if their parents could send them something to eat». Zhanna Kryzhanovska, daughter of repressed political prisoner and human rights defender Mykola Bereslavsky, shares memories of the times of the Holodomor and Soviet repressions. Her stories are a testament to the…

Zhanna Kryzhanovska, daughter of repressed political prisoner and human rights defender Mykola Bereslavsky, shares unique memories of her father, who endured repression and passed on a deep sense of Ukrainian identity to his children. This account serves as a reminder of the long and difficult journey toward Ukraine’s independence and the importance of preserving culture…