Museum

Yesterday we visited the Museum of Political Repression, located on Lenin Prospect in Tomsk. The museum was established a couple years ago in the same location as a Soviet jail, where political prisoners were held before being shot. There was definitely an eerie presence, but it mostly went unnoticed thanks to our cheerful, talkative tour guide.  There's a lot to be said about the topic of political repression, so I'll give a short introduction. In October 1917 a revolution took place in Russia that dethroned the Tsar and established the Bolshevik Communist Party as the leader of the new Soviet Union. The Tsar was basically the king of Russia, and this tradition had existed for centuries. There was little attempt at democracy up until the 1905 revolution. Furthermore, the majority of the Russian population were serfs (essentially slaves) up until 1861. A 5-year civil war followed the revolution, and until the end of Stalin's regime in 1953, political repression was not uncommon. People would be kidnapped, thrown in jail, kept in jail for extended periods of time, deprived of education or work opportunities, sent to work camps (Gulags), and sometimes murdered for a variety of reasons. Maybe you were in the opposition political party, or maybe you simply voiced an opinion that opposed the authorities. Maybe you got caught stealing, or you were a spy. Maybe your neighbor overheard you say something against the authorities, or maybe your neighbor completely made something up to get you arrested. There were rewards for turning people in, and disposing of criminal elements was a great way to advance in the communist party. This way of life created an atmosphere of paranoia and fear, typical of a totalitarian regime. During the Great Purges (1937-1938), for example, it is estimated that up to 2 million people - Communist Party officials, peasants, workers, minorities - were murdered. As I said, there is a lot to say about this tragic topic when you get into the effects it had on society and how it is perceived today, but I'll leave it at that.