{"id":12813,"date":"2026-03-14T02:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karagodin.com\/?page_id=12813"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:31:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:31:04","slug":"literary-and-cultural-references","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/karagodin.com\/?page_id=12813","title":{"rendered":"Literary and Cultural References"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interpretations and critical references<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The references listed below document the intellectual and cultural reception of the work of Denis Karagodin<\/a> and the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> in contemporary journalism, academic research, and book publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These works discuss or reference Karagodin\u2019s research and the Karagodin case<\/a> in broader debates about historical memory, political repression, and the identification of perpetrators of state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Selected references<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Anna Vichkitova.
Inherited Silence: Russian Family History.<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, New York University, November 26, 2025.
Available at: https:\/\/jordanrussiacenter.org\/blog\/inherited-silence-russian-family-history<\/summary>\n


In this essay, scholar Anna Vichkitova examines the phenomenon of post-Soviet family memory and what she describes as \u201cinherited silence\u201d surrounding the traumatic events of the twentieth century. The article explores how historical ruptures produced by Soviet repression created gaps in family narratives that continue to shape the experiences of later generations. Drawing on concepts such as postmemory and fragmentary historical reconstruction, the essay discusses literary and artistic attempts to recover or reinterpret these silenced histories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this broader discussion of post-Soviet memory culture, Vichkitova refers to the case of Denis Karagodin<\/a> and the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project. She describes Karagodin\u2019s work as a personal archival investigation into the execution of his great-grandfather by the Soviet secret police, noting that he spent nearly a decade reconstructing the case and publishing documents and findings through an open-access digital archive.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article situates the investigation<\/a> within a wider post-Soviet tendency to restore erased family histories and confront the silences surrounding Stalinist repression. In this interpretation, projects such as the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> represent not only acts of historical inquiry but also forms of cultural and memorial work aimed at recovering fragmented narratives of the Soviet past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Julian Hans.
Kinder der Gewalt: Ein Portr\u00e4t Russlands in f\u00fcnf Verbrechen.
<\/strong><\/em>(Children of Violence: A Portrait of Russia in Five Crimes)
Munich: C.H. Beck, 2024.<\/summary>\n


In this book-length journalistic investigation, German journalist Julian Hans examines the persistence of violence in Russian history and contemporary society through the analysis of five emblematic criminal cases. Drawing on his long experience as Moscow correspondent for S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung<\/em>, Hans explores how structures of power, impunity, and historical memory shape public life in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the cases examined in the book is the 1938 NKVD execution of Stepan Karagodin and the subsequent investigation conducted by Denis Karagodin<\/a>. Hans reconstructs the history of the crime and the archival inquiry that followed, presenting the investigation as an attempt to publicly identify the individuals responsible for acts of Soviet-era state violence and to confront the unresolved legacy of political repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author situates the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> within a broader reflection on the mechanisms through which violence is reproduced across generations in Russian political culture. By documenting both the historical crime and the contemporary efforts to expose it, Hans presents the case as an example of how individual civic initiative can challenge entrenched structures of silence surrounding state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edward Limonov.
\u0418\u0434\u0435\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u044f. \u0417\u0430\u0432\u0435\u0442\u044b \u0438 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
(Ideal Russia: Testaments and Prophecies).
Moscow: Knizhny Mir, 2023.<\/summary>\n


In this collection of political and cultural essays, writer and public intellectual Eduard Limonov reflects on contemporary ideological conflicts and debates over historical memory in Russia. Within this context he refers to the investigation initiated by Tomsk researcher Denis Karagodin<\/a> concerning the 1938 NKVD execution of his great-grandfather, interpreting the case as part of a broader post-Soviet effort to revisit Soviet-era political repression and publicly identify those responsible for acts of state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The volume includes the essay “Trupnyy yad mogilnika,” originally written in November 2016, in which Limonov directly discusses the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> and the publication of archival materials relating to the NKVD execution of Karagodin\u2019s ancestor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Limonov\u2019s interpretation, the investigation<\/a> is presented not as a routine act of memorialization but as a politically consequential initiative that shifts attention from the rehabilitation of victims toward the public identification and condemnation of perpetrators. He frames the case as an intervention in post-Soviet memory politics that challenges established limits on how Soviet repression may be publicly revisited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Konstantin Kotelnikov.
\u041f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0443\u043a \u0440\u0435\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u043d\u0430\u0448\u0451\u043b \u0438\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0430 \u0441\u0442\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0445 \u043f\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447\u0435\u0439<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
(Descendant of a Repressed Victim Identifies Stalinist Executioners<\/em>).
Diletant.media, August 23, 2023.
Available at: https:\/\/diletant.media\/articles\/45257086\/<\/summary>\n


This article presents a detailed narrative reconstruction of the execution of Stepan Karagodin during the Stalinist purges, situating the case within the broader mechanisms of Soviet repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author emphasizes the structural nature of fabricated charges, the administrative logic of mass executions, and the post-factum rehabilitation of victims. Within this framework, the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a>, led by Denis Karagodin<\/a>, is presented as an exceptional case of archival breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the article, access to execution records containing the names of NKVD personnel constitutes a rare and nearly unprecedented event within the Russian archival system. The investigation is thus framed as a disruption of institutional secrecy, exposing the concrete human agents behind state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text shifts the discourse from abstract historical responsibility to the identification of specific perpetrators, thereby transforming the epistemological status of Stalinist terror from an anonymous system into a traceable chain of individual actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maksim Rychkov.
\u0417\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0439\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u041f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0439 \u0441 \u0432\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u0448\u0438\u043c\u0438 \u043c\u0435\u0440\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0446\u0430\u043c\u0438. \u0412 1979 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0443 \u0447\u0435\u043a\u0438\u0441\u0442\u044b \u043f\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044f\u043b\u0438 \u0441\u0438\u0431\u0438\u0440\u044f\u043a\u043e\u0432 \u043d\u0430 \u0432\u043e\u0439\u043d\u0443 \u0441 \u0436\u0435\u0440\u0442\u0432\u0430\u043c\u0438 \u0440\u0435\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0439 \u2014 \u0432 \u0434\u0435\u043b\u043e \u0448\u043b\u0438 \u0434\u0430\u0436\u0435 \u0442\u0435\u043f\u043b\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0434\u044b<\/em><\/strong>
(A Stagnation-Era May Day with the Rising Dead: In 1979 Soviet Security Officers Mobilized Siberian Residents Against the Victims of Repression \u2014 even Riverboats Were Used).
Republic, January 24, 2023.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/106966<\/summary>\n


In this historical essay, journalist Maksim Rychkov reconstructs the events surrounding the discovery and subsequent destruction of a mass burial site of victims of Stalinist repression in the Siberian town of Kolpashevo in 1979. The article describes how erosion along the bank of the Ob River exposed large burial pits containing the remains of hundreds \u2014 and possibly thousands \u2014 of people executed during the Great Terror of 1937\u20131938.

Rychkov places the Kolpashevo tragedy within the broader history of Stalinist violence in Western Siberia. During the Great Terror, regional NKVD authorities carried out mass executions of individuals accused of belonging to fabricated \u201ccounterrevolutionary organizations,\u201d often relying on coerced confessions and extrajudicial procedures. According to the article, the Kolpashevo site functioned as one of the principal execution grounds in the region, where groups of prisoners were brought to the riverbank and shot before being buried in mass graves.

When the burial site was accidentally revealed in 1979, Soviet authorities sought to suppress the discovery and prevent public discussion of the crimes. Local officials and KGB officers organized a large-scale operation to destroy the graves: riverboats were used to erode the riverbank, causing human remains to collapse into the Ob River, while police and volunteers collected and sank bones and bodies that resurfaced. The article describes this operation as an attempt by the late Soviet state to eliminate physical evidence of mass repression.

Among the historical sources referenced in the article is Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s research<\/a> on the Kolpashevo execution site. Rychkov cites Karagodin\u2019s work<\/a> alongside other studies and testimonies documenting the history of the Kolpashevo Yar, highlighting the role of independent researchers and regional historians in reconstructing the events and preserving evidence of the crimes despite decades of institutional silence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrei Arkhangelsky.
\u041f\u043e\u043b\u044b\u0435 \u043b\u044e\u0434\u0438<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
(Hollow Men).
Colta.ru, March 3, 2022.
Available at: https:\/\/www.colta.ru\/articles\/society\/13334-polye-lyudi<\/summary>\n


In this essay, journalist and cultural critic Andrei Arkhangelsky analyzes the mechanisms of historical memory in contemporary Russia, focusing on how key periods such as perestroika and the 1990s are being erased or distorted in public discourse and mass culture. He argues that this suppression produces a \u201chollow\u201d post-Soviet subject, deprived of historical continuity and the ability to perceive causal links between past and present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this broader argument, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation is referenced as a concrete example that resists such erasure. By reconstructing the story of his repressed ancestor, Karagodin\u2019s work reintroduces the question of state violence and individual responsibility into public consciousness, countering the tendency to avoid or neutralize difficult historical truths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text frames the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> as an intervention into the politics of memory, emphasizing its role in confronting suppressed histories and exposing the consequences of enforced forgetting, which Arkhangelsky identifies as a central condition shaping contemporary Russian society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dmitry Kolezev.
\u0422\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043c\u0430 \u0441\u0442\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0437\u043c\u0430. \u041a\u0430\u043a \u043f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u044c \u043e \u0411\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0448\u043e\u043c \u0442\u0435\u0440\u0440\u043e\u0440\u0435 \u0432\u043b\u0438\u044f\u0435\u0442 \u043d\u0430 \u0432\u043b\u0430\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0438 \u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0432 \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438. \u0420\u0430\u0437\u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440 \u0441 \u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0435\u043c \u042d\u043f\u043f\u043b\u0435<\/em>
<\/strong><\/em>(The Trauma of Stalinism: How the Memory of the Great Terror Shapes Power and Society in Contemporary Russia. A Conversation with Nikolai Epple).
Republic, December 3, 2021.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/102498<\/summary>\n


In this interview, journalist and publicist Dmitry Kolezev speaks with writer and cultural historian Nikolai Epple about the long-term social and political effects of unprocessed memory of Stalinist repression in contemporary Russia. The conversation is framed by Epple\u2019s book An Uncomfortable Past<\/em>, which examines how different societies confront histories of state violence and collective trauma.

Epple argues that memory of the Great Terror remains politically consequential because it concerns the limits of state power and the value of human life. In his interpretation, the failure to work through the legacy of Soviet repression has contributed to a persistent climate of distrust, civic estrangement, and reluctance to confront the political meaning of past state crimes. The interview situates Russian memory politics within a broader comparative framework that includes Germany, Spain, Argentina, and other societies that have grappled with traumatic pasts.

Within this discussion, Epple refers to Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Great Terror as a particularly illuminating example of how historical accountability can emerge through individual archival work. He cites the letter Karagodin received<\/a> from the granddaughter of one of the men involved in the execution, noting it as evidence that public acknowledgment of documented facts need not produce inherited hostility between descendants of victims and descendants of perpetrators.

In this context, the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project is presented as an important civic intervention into the politics of memory: not as an act of revenge, but as a fact-based effort to establish degrees of responsibility, break through historical ambiguity, and make meaningful public discussion of Soviet violence possible. The interview thus situates Karagodin\u2019s work within a larger argument about memory, justice, and the conditions necessary for civic reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Egor Senchin.
“\u041d\u0430 \u043c\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0445 \u0437\u0430\u0445\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0438\u043b\u0438 \u0434\u0430\u0447\u0438 \u0438 \u0441\u0430\u043d\u0430\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0438<\/em>“. \u0418\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u043a \u0412\u0438\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440 \u041a\u0438\u0440\u0438\u043b\u043b\u043e\u0432 \u2014 \u043e \u043f\u043e\u0442\u043e\u043c\u043a\u0430\u0445 \u0441\u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443\u0434\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0432 \u041d\u041a\u0412\u0414, \u043d\u0435\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0437\u043c\u0435 \u0438 \u0442\u0430\u0439\u043d\u0430\u0445 \u0432 \u0430\u0440\u0445\u0438\u0432\u0430\u0445 \u0424\u0421\u0411<\/em>
<\/strong>(\u201cDachas and Sanatoriums Were Built on Burial Sites.\u201d Historian Viktor Kirillov on the Descendants of NKVD Officers, Neo-Stalinism, and Secrets in the FSB Archives).
Republic, October 30, 2021.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/102146<\/summary>\n


This interview with historian Viktor Kirillov \u2014 doctor of historical sciences, founder of the Nizhny Tagil branch of the Memorial society, and a long-time researcher of Soviet political repression \u2014 examines the contemporary politics of historical memory in Russia and the continuing struggle over access to archival records related to Stalinist terror.

Kirillov argues that the revival of positive attitudes toward Joseph Stalin in contemporary Russia is connected to unresolved historical trauma, the absence of a thorough societal reckoning with the crimes of the Soviet regime, and the persistence of authoritarian political culture. According to him, many citizens lack adequate knowledge about the scale and nature of Soviet repression, while state institutions play a decisive role in shaping historical narratives through education, propaganda, and archival policy.

The historian also discusses the ongoing work of researchers and civic initiatives dedicated to documenting victims of political repression and reconstructing sites of mass executions. These efforts include the compilation of regional \u201cBooks of Memory,\u201d digital databases of victims, and the identification of burial sites across the former Soviet Union. Kirillov emphasizes that many such sites remain insufficiently documented, and in some cases memorial spaces have even been built directly on top of mass graves.

Within the interview, Kirillov refers to the investigation<\/a> conducted by Denis Karagodin<\/a> as a significant example of attempts to reconstruct the chain of responsibility for Stalinist repression. Karagodin\u2019s research into the execution of his ancestor and the identification of specific NKVD officials involved in the crime provoked legal conflicts initiated by descendants of those officials, illustrating the continuing sensitivity surrounding the identification of perpetrators of Soviet state violence.

The interview situates such conflicts within a broader context of contested memory politics in Russia, where efforts to document repression and name those responsible often encounter resistance from state institutions and from parts of society that continue to justify or romanticize the Soviet past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evgeniya Lezina.
\u0414\u0432\u0430\u0434\u0446\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0432\u043e\u0441\u0435\u043c\u044c \u043f\u0430\u043d\u0444\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0446\u0435\u0432 \u0441\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u0432 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u043e\u044e. \u041e\u0444\u0438\u0446\u0438\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u044f \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u043f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u0438 \u0438 “\u043e\u0447\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0438<\/em><\/em>“
<\/strong>(The Twenty-Eight Panfilov Guardsmen Return to the Ranks: Official Memory Politics and the \u201cDefamation of History).
Republic, September 18, 2021.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/101657<\/summary>\n


In this essay, political scientist Evgeniya Lezina \u2014 research fellow at the Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam and author of the forthcoming book The Twentieth Century: Working Through the Past. Transitional Justice Practices and Memory Politics in Former Dictatorships<\/em> \u2014 examines the evolution of official memory politics in contemporary Russia. The text analyzes how state institutions increasingly seek to control historical interpretation, particularly regarding the crimes of the Soviet regime.

Lezina argues that Russian authorities have developed a systematic strategy aimed at delegitimizing critical interpretations of Soviet history while promoting patriotic narratives that emphasize continuity between the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the modern Russian state. According to the author, this policy includes the creation of institutional mechanisms designed to combat so-called \u201cfalsifications of history,\u201d the promotion of heroic myths such as the legend of the twenty-eight Panfilov Guardsmen, and the use of legal and administrative pressure against independent historical research.

Within this broader discussion, Lezina refers to the case of Denis Karagodin<\/a> and the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project as an example of how researchers who attempt to identify the individuals responsible for Stalinist repression face institutional resistance. The article notes that Karagodin\u2019s investigation into the extrajudicial execution of his great-grandfather in 1938 \u2014 an effort aimed at reconstructing the chain of responsibility among NKVD officials \u2014 has itself become the target of legal complaints and attempts to initiate criminal proceedings against the researcher.

By situating the Karagodin investigation<\/a> alongside cases such as the prosecution of historian Yuri Dmitriev and the obstruction of archival access for researchers, the essay demonstrates how contemporary Russian memory politics increasingly restricts efforts to document the perpetrators of Soviet state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The New Times.
\u041a\u0443\u043a\u043e\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0442\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0440 \u043d\u0430 \u0433\u0440\u043e\u0431\u0430\u0445<\/strong>
(Puppet Theatre on Coffins).
The New Times, August 28, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/newtimes.ru\/articles\/detail\/116787\/<\/summary>\n


This article examines the work of Italian writer Giovannino Guareschi, focusing on his literary response to political division and the legacy of violence in postwar Italy. It interprets Guareschi\u2019s use of humor as a means of confronting trauma, restoring social cohesion, and addressing the unresolved tensions between opposing ideological groups in a society shaped by dictatorship and civil conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this context, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation is introduced as a contemporary parallel to Guareschi\u2019s work. The article draws an explicit comparison between the two, suggesting that both engage in a similar process of confronting suppressed historical violence by reconstructing chains of responsibility and bringing concealed crimes into public visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By placing the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> alongside a significant literary tradition, the text frames it not only as a historical or legal inquiry, but as part of a broader cultural practice aimed at acknowledging past atrocities, enabling collective reflection, and creating the conditions for societal reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ivan Davydov.
\u0412\u0440\u0430\u0433 \u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0430 \u043d\u043e\u043c\u0435\u0440 \u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d: \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0435\u0439 \u041d\u0430\u0432\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0438 <\/em>“\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u043a\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043a\u043e\u0434<\/em>“
<\/strong>(Enemy of the People Number One: Alexei Navalny and the \u201cSoviet Cultural Code\u201d).
Republic, April 6, 2021.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/100063<\/summary>\n


In this essay, journalist and political commentator Ivan Davydov analyzes the rhetoric and propaganda surrounding the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The article situates the media campaign against Navalny within a broader historical pattern of political discourse in Russia, arguing that contemporary propaganda increasingly reproduces narrative structures characteristic of the Stalinist era.

Davydov describes how pro-government media outlets portray Navalny as a traitor and political enemy, a strategy that echoes the language used during the Great Terror. According to the author, this rhetoric reflects what he calls a \u201cSoviet cultural code,\u201d in which public denunciation, moral delegitimization, and accusations of betrayal function as tools for consolidating political power.

Within this discussion, Davydov refers to the case of Denis Karagodin<\/a> and the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project as an example of the contemporary political struggle over the historical legacy of Stalinist repression. He notes that Karagodin\u2019s archival investigation<\/a> \u2014 aimed at identifying the NKVD officials responsible for the execution of his great-grandfather in 1938 \u2014 has itself become the subject of scrutiny by Russian law-enforcement bodies, which have reportedly examined whether the publication of these materials constitutes espionage, the disclosure of state secrets, or violations of personal privacy.

By invoking the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> alongside other contemporary controversies surrounding historical memory, the article highlights a broader trend: the gradual rehabilitation of Stalinist institutions and the simultaneous stigmatization of those who attempt to document the mechanisms of Soviet state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrei Zubov.
\u0410\u043d\u0434\u0440\u0435\u0439 \u0417\u0443\u0431\u043e\u0432: \u0414\u0435\u043b\u043e \u041a\u0430\u0440\u0430\u0433\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430
<\/strong><\/em>(Andrei Zubov: The Karagodin Case).
The New Times, March 29, 2021.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/99982<\/summary>\n


In this essay, historian and public intellectual Andrei Zubov reflects on Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation as a morally and historically significant act aimed at uncovering the truth about Soviet repression. He presents the case not only as a personal effort to restore family memory, but as part of a broader ethical imperative to confront the legacy of political violence in Russia.

Zubov emphasizes that the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> systematically reconstructs chains of responsibility by identifying individuals involved in the execution process at all levels, from local NKVD officers to the highest authorities. In doing so, the project transforms concealed acts of state violence into visible and documented facts, making what was hidden publicly knowable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author further interprets the investigation as an act of moral accountability with wider societal implications. He argues that confronting the crimes of the past through naming perpetrators and acknowledging responsibility is essential for national ethical renewal, comparing this process to post-war denazification in Germany and framing Karagodin\u2019s work as a model for such transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alexander Turov.
\u0414\u0435\u043b\u043e \u043e \u0434\u0438\u0441\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0446\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447\u0435\u0439. \u041c\u0412\u0414 \u0438 \u0421\u041a \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u044f\u044e\u0442 \u0441\u0430\u0439\u0442, \u043f\u043e\u0441\u0432\u044f\u0449\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0438 \u043c\u0430\u0441\u0441\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0445 \u0440\u0435\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0439<\/em><\/span>
<\/strong><\/em>(The Case of the \u201cDiscrediting of Executioners\u201d: The Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee Examine a Website on the History of Mass Repression).<\/span>
Republic, March 29, 2021.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/99982<\/summary>\n


In this article, journalist Alexander Turov reports on a police inquiry initiated against the website KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a>, an independent research project founded by Denis Karagodin<\/a>. The investigation was launched after several complaints alleged that materials published on the site violated personal data laws and constituted defamation against former NKVD officers whose names appear in archival documents related to Stalinist repression.

The article outlines the origins of the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project, which began in 2012 when Denis Karagodin<\/a> undertook a personal archival inquiry into the fate of his great-grandfather, Stepan Karagodin, a peasant executed in Tomsk in 1938 during the so-called \u201cHarbin Operation\u201d of the NKVD. Through a long-term investigation based on documents obtained from the archives of the FSB, \u041c\u0412\u0414, and other institutions, Karagodin reconstructed the circumstances of the execution and identified the officials who participated in the decision and its implementation.

According to Turov, the publication of these archival materials \u2014 including documents bearing the signatures of NKVD officials involved in the execution \u2014 prompted complaints from individuals who claimed that the website \u201cdiscredits\u201d the memory of their relatives who served in Soviet security organs. In particular, the use of the term \u201cmurderers\u201d in reference to those directly involved in executions was cited by complainants as defamatory.

The article situates this conflict within a broader debate about historical accountability and the public naming of perpetrators of political repression. The KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project is presented as an example of a civic archival initiative that reconstructs the institutional chain of responsibility for Stalinist terror and publicly documents the individuals who carried out executions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nikolay Epplee.
\u041d\u0435\u0443\u0434\u043e\u0431\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043b\u043e\u0435. \u041f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u044c \u043e \u0433\u043e\u0441\u0443\u0434\u0430\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f\u0445 \u0432 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u0438 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433\u0438\u0445 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0430\u0445<\/em>
<\/strong><\/em>(An Inconvenient Past: Memory of State Crimes in Russia and Other Countries).
Moscow: Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 2020.<\/summary>\n


Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into Soviet political repression is discussed in several sections of Nikolay Epplee\u2019s An Inconvenient Past: Memory of State Crimes in Russia and Other Countries<\/em> (Moscow: Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 2020), a major study of transitional justice and historical memory in contemporary Russia. The book examines different approaches to confronting the legacy of Soviet state violence and the societal mechanisms through which historical responsibility may be articulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this broader discussion, Epplee highlights the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> as a distinctive example of an independent civic initiative addressing Soviet-era repression. He presents the project as an unusually effective framework for moving beyond symbolic commemoration toward the systematic identification of perpetrators and the public documentation of responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epplee emphasizes that the investigation demonstrates how individual archival research, combined with persistent public engagement, can challenge bureaucratic resistance and shift the terms of discussion about Soviet crimes. In his interpretation, the case illustrates the potential of proactive civic action to transform the politics of historical memory and to reopen questions that had long remained institutionally suppressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Liudmila Chernaya.
\u0417\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0441\u043a\u0438 \u043e\u0431\u044b\u043a\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440\u044f\u0449\u0435\u0439 \u043b\u043e\u0448\u0430\u0434\u0438.<\/em><\/em><\/em>
<\/strong>(Notes of an Ordinary Talking Horse)
Moscow: Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 2018.<\/summary>\n


The author refers to Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror, describing it as an important effort to identify all individuals responsible for the crime and offering an emphatically positive assessment of the investigation and its author.

Liudmila Chernaya was a Soviet and Russian publicist, translator, and journalist who worked during the Second World War in the editorial department of TASS counter-propaganda. In later decades she became known for her translations from German and for several books dealing with the history of Nazism and twentieth-century European political history. Her memoirs and essays reflect a long-standing engagement with questions of historical responsibility and the interpretation of the twentieth century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Denis Karagodin.
\u0411\u0435\u0437\u043e\u0442\u0447\u0435\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0443\u043d\u0438\u0447\u0442\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435. \u0427\u0442\u043e \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0438\u0441\u0445\u043e\u0434\u0438\u0442 \u0441 \u0430\u0440\u0445\u0438\u0432\u043d\u044b\u043c\u0438 \u0434\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044b\u043c\u0438 \u043e \u0441\u0442\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c \u0442\u0435\u0440\u0440\u043e\u0440\u0435?
<\/em><\/strong>(Unaccountable Destruction: What Is Happening to Archival Data on Stalinist Terror?).
Republic, June 9, 2018.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/91157<\/summary>\n


In this essay, Denis Karagodin<\/a> \u2014 researcher and author of the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project \u2014 examines the problem of archival destruction and the bureaucratic management of historical records related to Stalinist repression. Drawing on archival research and contemporary correspondence with Russian state institutions, the article analyzes how administrative procedures and regulatory frameworks can lead to the loss of historically significant documentation.

The essay is structured around the case of Grigory and Fyodor Chazov, whose fate during the Great Terror reveals both the mechanics of execution procedures and the systematic falsification of official death records. Karagodin describes how Soviet security organs developed instructions for falsifying causes and dates of death in civil registries, thereby concealing the true scale of state violence and preventing families from discovering the real circumstances of executions. 

The article also discusses the work of researcher Sergei Prudovsky, who uncovered evidence that certain archival records documenting the movement of prisoners within the Soviet penal system had been officially destroyed in accordance with contemporary administrative regulations. According to Karagodin, such bureaucratic practices \u2014 although formally legal \u2014 can result in the irreversible loss of crucial historical evidence about political repression.

Within this framework, Karagodin reflects on his own archival investigation into the execution of his great-grandfather by NKVD officers in Tomsk in 1938. The article situates this investigation within a broader effort to reconstruct the documentary architecture of Stalinist terror and to preserve the remaining fragments of archival evidence before they disappear through institutional neglect or administrative procedures.

The essay ultimately raises a broader question about the preservation of historical memory in the digital age. Karagodin argues that documents related to political repression should be granted permanent archival status and made publicly accessible in digital form, ensuring that the historical record of Soviet state violence cannot be erased by bureaucratic mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sergei Medvedev.
\u041f\u0430\u0440\u043a \u041a\u0440\u044b\u043c\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043e\u0434\u0430. \u0425\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438 \u0442\u0440\u0435\u0442\u044c\u0435\u0433\u043e \u0441\u0440\u043e\u043a\u0430.
<\/em><\/strong>(Park of the Crimean Period: Chronicles of the Third Presidential Term).
Moscow: Individuum Publishing, 2017<\/summary>\n


Essay: \u201c<\/strong>Chastnyi Nyurnberg Denisa Karagodina<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> (Denis Karagodin\u2019s Private Nuremberg Trial)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this essay, political scientist, public intellectual, journalist, and university lecturer Sergei Medvedev examines Denis Karagodi<\/a>n\u2019s investigation into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror, conducted within the framework of the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medvedev presents the investigation<\/a> as an attempt to break the long-standing anonymity surrounding Soviet state violence by identifying the concrete individuals involved in political repression. He argues that the case shifts the discussion of Stalinist terror away from abstract moral reflection, reconciliation rhetoric, and depersonalized remembrance toward the legal attribution of responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essay interprets Karagodin\u2019s work as a form of \u201cprivate Nuremberg<\/em>\u201d: a civic and archival effort to reconstruct the chain of perpetrators, name those responsible, and return the question of Soviet terror to the domain of law, accountability, and historical justice. According to Medvedev, this logic of de-anonymization challenges the political culture built on silence, impunity, and the normalization of violence in both Soviet and post-Soviet Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edward Limonov.
2017. \u0412 \u0442\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u043c \u0432\u0435\u043d\u0446\u0435 \u0440\u0435\u0432\u043e\u043b\u044e\u0446\u0438\u0438<\/em>
<\/strong><\/em>(2017: In the Thorny Crown of Revolution).
Moscow: Knizhny Mir, 2017.<\/summary>\n


In this collection of political and cultural essays, writer and public intellectual Eduard Limonov reflects on contemporary ideological conflicts and debates over historical memory in Russia. Within this context he refers to the investigation initiated by Tomsk researcher Denis Karagodin<\/a> concerning the 1938 NKVD execution of his great-grandfather, interpreting the case as part of a broader post-Soviet effort to revisit Soviet-era political repression and publicly identify those responsible for acts of state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The volume includes the essay “Trupnyy yad mogilnika,” originally written in November 2016, in which Limonov directly discusses the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> and the publication of archival materials relating to the NKVD execution of Karagodin\u2019s ancestor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Limonov\u2019s interpretation, the investigation<\/a> is presented not as a routine act of memorialization but as a politically consequential initiative that shifts attention from the rehabilitation of victims toward the public identification and condemnation of perpetrators. He frames the case as an intervention in post-Soviet memory politics that challenges established limits on how Soviet repression may be publicly revisited.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

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Delfi.
\u0160imtai t\u016bkstan\u010di\u0173 Stalino auk\u0173: dienora\u0161\u010diai atskleid\u017eia \u0161iurpius pasmerkt\u0173j\u0173 i\u0161gyvenimus<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
(Hundreds of Thousands of Stalin\u2019s Victims: Diaries Reveal the Harsh Reality of the Condemned.).
Delfi, November 18, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/www.delfi.lt\/news\/daily\/world\/simtai-tukstanciu-stalino-auku-dienorasciai-atskleidzia-siurpius-pasmerktuju-isgyvenimus-76269365<\/summary>\n


This analytical essay examines the personal diaries of victims of the Great Terror (1937\u20131938), focusing on the psychological experience of repression, the collapse of rational frameworks, and the internalization of systemic violence within Soviet society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this broader cultural and historical context, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation is referenced as a contemporary example of individual archival inquiry into Stalinist repression. His work \u2014 reconstructing the circumstances of his great-grandfather\u2019s execution and identifying those responsible \u2014 is presented as a form of active historical and epistemic intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> is positioned as part of a broader cultural process of confronting historical violence and responsibility, demonstrating how independent civic inquiry can generate deeper forms of public reflection than symbolic, state-driven commemorative practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vitaly Kurennoi.
\u0411\u043e\u0438 \u0437\u0430 \u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u044e. \u041f\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u043d\u0435 \u043d\u0443\u0436\u043d\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u043f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u0438<\/em><\/em>
<\/strong>(Battles for History: Why a Politics of Historical Memory Is Not Needed).
Republic, November 12, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/87577<\/summary>\n


In this essay, philosopher and cultural theorist Vitaly Kurennoi examines the persistent conflicts surrounding historical interpretation in contemporary Russia. He argues that disputes over the past are not anomalies but a normal feature of modern societies, where history functions as a key element in the formation of both individual and collective identity. According to Kurennoi, historical narratives inevitably become contested because they intersect with political interests, social identities, and cultural memory.

The author criticizes the concept of a centralized \u201cpolitics of historical memory,\u201d arguing that attempts by the state to regulate interpretations of the past cannot resolve these conflicts. Instead, such policies often intensify disagreements by transforming historical interpretation into a field of ideological struggle. In Kurennoi\u2019s view, history as an academic discipline can provide methodological standards for evaluating historical claims, but it cannot produce a unified narrative capable of resolving social and political disputes over the past.

Within this discussion, Kurennoi refers to the case of Denis Karagodin<\/a>, who conducted an independent investigation<\/a> into the execution of his grandfather during the Stalinist terror. The author highlights Karagodin\u2019s effort to identify not only the individuals directly responsible for the execution but also the descendants of those involved in the crime. According to Kurennoi, this case demonstrates that Russian society may be entering a stage in which previously suppressed discussions about the perpetrators of political repression can begin to take place openly.  

In this sense, the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> is interpreted as a diagnostic moment within the broader transformation of historical discourse in Russia. By publicly raising questions about responsibility and memory, the case reveals that the long-standing culture of silence surrounding Stalinist violence is gradually giving way to more direct and confrontational forms of historical reckoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrei Zavadsky.
\u041d\u0435\u043f\u0440\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0432\u044f\u0442\u044b\u043d\u044f \u0438\u043b\u0438 \u043e\u0431\u044a\u0435\u043a\u0442 \u0440\u0435\u0444\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0438\u0438?
<\/strong><\/em>(Untouchable Shrine or Object of Reflection?).
Colta.ru, February 3, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/www.colta.ru\/articles\/specials\/13809-neprikosnovennaya-svyatynya-ili-ob-ekt-refleksii<\/summary>\n


In this article, cultural analyst Andrei Zavadsky examines contemporary practices of memorialization, comparing German and Russian approaches to historical memory through debates around Holocaust memorials and public interaction with sites of trauma. He argues that while German memory culture remains open to reflection, discussion, and reinterpretation, Russian memory is increasingly structured as a rigid, quasi-religious system resistant to critical engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this framework, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation is presented as a significant example of grassroots engagement with historical memory. Zavadsky situates the project alongside civic initiatives that challenge official narratives, emphasizing its role in reintroducing suppressed histories and enabling a more individualized and ethically grounded confrontation with the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text frames the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> as part of a broader movement that contests the sacralization of state memory, highlighting its importance in opening space for reflection, dissent, and the reconstruction of historical truth beyond institutional control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yury Saprykin.
\u041b\u0438\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0434\u0435\u043b\u043e<\/strong>
<\/em>(Personal File).
The New Times, August 28, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/newtimes.ru\/articles\/detail\/116203\/<\/summary>\n


In this essay, journalist Yury Saprykin examines the public reaction to Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror, interpreting the case as a phenomenon that extends beyond a private family history into the sphere of public debate. He situates the discussion within the broader context of contemporary Russian memory politics, where historical interpretation is often shaped and regulated by state institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saprykin argues that the significance of the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> lies in its challenge to the state\u2019s monopoly over historical memory. By independently reconstructing the circumstances of the execution and identifying those involved, Karagodin reclaims the right to interpret the past as a personal and evidence-based process rather than an officially prescribed narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essay further emphasizes that the investigation transforms the understanding of Soviet repression by shifting it from abstract categories to concrete responsibility, grounded in names, actions, and documented facts. In this sense, Karagodin\u2019s work is presented as an individual act that redefines the relationship between personal memory, historical truth, and public discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The article suggests that the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> may represent an exceptional moment in which the normally closed archival system briefly malfunctioned, allowing access to materials that are typically withheld from the public. In this sense, the case illustrates both the possibilities and the structural limits of archival transparency in contemporary Russia, where the majority of documents related to the activities of Soviet security services remain classified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evgeny Karasyuk.
“\u041c\u044b \u043d\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0433\u043e \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u044f\u0447\u0435\u043c”. \u041a\u0440\u0435\u043c\u043b\u0435\u043c \u043e\u0432\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0435\u043b\u0430 \u043f\u0430\u0440\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0439\u044f \u0441\u0435\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438?<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
(\u201cWe Are Hiding Nothing\u201d: Has the Kremlin Been Overtaken by a Secrecy Paranoia?).
Republic, June 27, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/84263<\/summary>\n


In this essay, journalist and economic commentator Evgeny Karasyuk analyzes the rapid expansion of government secrecy in contemporary Russia. The article examines how increasing numbers of political, economic, and historical domains are being placed under classifications of state secrecy, creating a system in which information about public governance, military operations, and economic policy becomes progressively inaccessible to society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karasyuk traces this phenomenon across several spheres, including state finances, military activity, and archival policy. He argues that the contemporary Russian state increasingly treats secrecy as a governing principle, extending the category of \u201cstate secrets\u201d far beyond traditional security matters. As a result, public oversight of government institutions and historical transparency are significantly curtailed.

Within this discussion of archival secrecy and the restricted access to documents related to Soviet repression, the author refers to Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror. Karagodin\u2019s success in obtaining documentary confirmation from the Novosibirsk regional office of the Federal Security Service is described as an extraordinary and unexpected breakthrough. According to Karasyuk, historians interviewed about the case expressed astonishment that such documentation could be released at all.  

The article suggests that the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> may represent an exceptional moment in which the normally closed archival system briefly malfunctioned, allowing access to materials that are typically withheld from the public. In this sense, the case illustrates both the possibilities and the structural limits of archival transparency in contemporary Russia, where the majority of documents related to the activities of Soviet security services remain classified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sergei Medvedev.
\u0421\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0430 \u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0434\u0435\u0442\u0435\u0439. <\/em>“\u041d\u0435\u043b\u044e\u0431\u043e\u0432\u044c” \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0434\u0438\u0430\u0433\u043d\u043e\u0437<\/em>
<\/strong>(A Country of Abandoned Children: Loveless<\/em> as a Diagnosis).
Republic, June 9, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/83784<\/summary>\n


In this essay, political scientist, journalist, and public intellectual Sergei Medvedev offers an interpretation of Andrei Zvyagintsev\u2019s film Loveless<\/em> (Nelyubov\u2019<\/em>), reading it as a cultural diagnosis of contemporary Russian society. The article situates the film within a broader moral and political landscape marked by social fragmentation, erosion of trust, and the persistence of collective trauma. According to Medvedev, Zvyagintsev\u2019s recurring motif of abandoned or lost children becomes a powerful metaphor for a society experiencing deep moral disintegration.

Medvedev argues that the disappearance of the child at the center of the film represents more than a narrative device; it symbolizes the absence of empathy, solidarity, and responsibility within a broader social environment shaped by cynicism and systemic neglect. The essay connects the themes of the film to contemporary Russian public discourse, including debates about violence, social responsibility, and the ethical foundations of public life.

Within this context, Medvedev refers to the public discussion that unfolded in Russia in 2016 around questions of moral responsibility and historical memory. Among the examples he cites is the Karagodin case \u2014 Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror. The investigation<\/a> is mentioned alongside broader civic debates about violence, trauma, and accountability, illustrating how individual initiatives have contributed to renewed public reflection on the legacy of repression and the responsibility of perpetrators.

In Medvedev\u2019s interpretation, such discussions signal a growing awareness within parts of Russian society of the ethical impasse produced by long-standing patterns of silence and denial. The KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> thus appears in the essay as part of a wider cultural moment in which previously suppressed questions about violence, historical responsibility, and moral accountability begin to surface in public discourse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anatoly Golubovsky, Nikolai Uskov.
\u00ab\u0422\u043e, \u0447\u0442\u043e \u0434\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0432\u043e\u043f\u0440\u0435\u043a\u0438 \u0433\u043e\u0441\u0443\u0434\u0430\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0443, \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0442 \u043d\u0430\u0448\u0443 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0443 \u0433\u043e\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0434\u043e \u0431\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435\u00bb”<\/strong> (Anatoly Golubovsky: “What Is Done Against the State Glorifies Our Country Far More.”).<\/span>
Forbes Russia, March 9, 2017.<\/span>
Available at: https:\/\/www.forbes.ru\/biznes\/340467-aleksey-golubovskiy-chto-delaetsya-vopreki-gosudarstvu-proslavlyaet-nashu-stranu<\/summary>\n


This publication presents a public conversation between journalist and media manager Anatoly Golubovsky and publisher Nikolai Uskov, addressing the role of independent civic initiatives, historical reflection, and the relationship between society and the state in contemporary Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this discussion, Denis Karagodin<\/a> and the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> are referenced as a notable example of a grassroots, archive-based initiative confronting the legacy of Soviet political repression. The project is introduced in the context of debates surrounding historical responsibility, intergenerational memory, and the social consequences of engaging with the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to narratives suggesting that such initiatives may provoke social division, the discussion highlights the investigation as a potential mechanism of reconciliation, emphasizing its role in fostering dialogue, moral reflection, and acknowledgment of historical injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Grigory Yudin and Darya Khlevnyuk.
\u0414\u0432\u0435 \u043f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u0438. \u041a\u0430\u043a \u0436\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u043e\u043c\u043d\u044f\u0442 \u0441\u0432\u043e\u044e \u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u044e<\/em><\/span><\/em>
<\/strong>(Two Memories: How Russians Remember Their History).<\/span>
Republic, January 30, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/79016<\/summary>\n


In this essay, sociologist Grigory Yudin and researcher Darya Khlevnyuk examine the structure of historical consciousness in contemporary Russia and argue that two distinct modes of collective memory coexist within society. One is an official, state-centered narrative that emphasizes national glory, victory in war, and a unified interpretation of the past. The other emerges from civic initiatives and grassroots efforts focused on individual experiences, local histories, and the recovery of personal narratives that were long excluded from official historical discourse.

Drawing on sociological research conducted for the Free Historical Society and the Committee of Civil Initiatives, the authors describe how teachers, historians, journalists, museum professionals, and local activists increasingly participate in shaping this second form of memory. These actors rely on alternative practices of remembrance, including memorial projects, regional historical initiatives, digital archives, and community-based documentation of historical events and personal biographies.

Within this broader discussion of grassroots historical memory, the authors refer to the case of Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror. They present the investigation as an example of how the insistence on recognizing the value of an individual life and personal history can challenge official narratives and create difficulties for political authorities. According to the authors, the demand to acknowledge a concrete human fate and its historical circumstances often proves more destabilizing than direct political accusations.

In this context, the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> is interpreted as part of a wider transformation in Russian memory culture, in which individual archival research and family-based historical inquiry contribute to the emergence of a \u201ccounter-history\u201d that operates independently of state historical policy. Such initiatives, the authors suggest, expand the space for plural interpretations of the past and gradually reshape the ways in which society engages with the legacy of repression and political violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ivan Davydov.
\u041a\u0430\u0434\u044b\u0440\u043e\u0432, \u0421\u0442\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043d \u0438 \u043b\u043e\u0432\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0430 \u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0438. \u041a \u0447\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0432\u043e\u0434\u044f\u0442 \u043f\u043e\u043f\u044b\u0442\u043a\u0438 \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u0442\u044c \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043b\u043e\u0435<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
(Kadyrov, Stalin, and the Trap of History: What Attempts to Rewrite the Past Lead To).
Republic, January 11, 2017.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/78390<\/summary>\n


In this essay, journalist and political commentator Ivan Davydov examines the contradictions inherent in contemporary Russian state efforts to construct a coherent official narrative of national history. The article focuses on tensions between attempts to rehabilitate aspects of the Stalinist past within state-centered historical discourse and the persistence of historical experiences that resist such reinterpretation.

Davydov discusses the political symbolism surrounding public statements by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov condemning Joseph Stalin for the deportation of the Chechen people. These remarks, the author argues, reveal the structural instability of official historical narratives: the attempt to build a unified state mythology inevitably encounters historical episodes that cannot easily be reconciled with it.

Within this broader discussion of historical memory, Davydov refers to Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Great Terror. The investigation<\/a> is presented as an example of how an individual researcher, working with archival materials, reconstructed the full chain of responsibility for a Stalinist execution by identifying the officials involved in the repression.

According to Davydov, such acts of archival reconstruction challenge the state\u2019s attempt to smooth over the contradictions of Soviet history by exposing the concrete human agents behind political violence. In this sense, the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> illustrates the difficulty of maintaining a sanitized national narrative when detailed historical inquiry continues to reveal the personal and institutional mechanisms of terror.

The essay ultimately argues that efforts to impose a simplified historical mythology risk producing unintended political consequences. When the past is treated as a tool of ideological construction, unresolved historical conflicts may reappear in unexpected ways, revealing the inherent limits of attempts to control historical memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ella Paneyakh.
\u041d\u0438\u043a\u0430\u043a\u0438\u0445 \u0442\u0430\u0431\u0443. \u041f\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u0432 \u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435 \u043d\u0435 \u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043b\u043e\u0441\u044c \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0442\u0435\u043c?<\/em>
<\/strong>(No More Taboos: Why Are There No Forbidden Topics Left in Society?).
Republic, December 29, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/78038<\/summary>\n


In this essay, sociologist and public commentator Ella Paneyakh examines the emergence in contemporary Russian society of new forms of public discussion surrounding previously marginalized or suppressed social issues. She argues that in recent years a wide range of topics \u2014 from domestic violence and gender inequality to historical trauma and collective memory \u2014 have begun to enter open public debate, particularly through digital media and networked forms of civic communication.

Paneyakh interprets these developments as part of a broader transformation associated with the increasing transparency and interconnectedness of society in the era of social networks. As individuals become more visible to one another and more capable of sharing personal experiences publicly, social norms and long-standing hierarchies come under scrutiny, prompting discussions about dignity, vulnerability, and ethical responsibility in public life.

Within this broader shift toward confronting previously silenced experiences, Paneyakh refers to Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror. The investigation<\/a> is presented alongside civic initiatives such as the Last Address memorial project as an example of efforts aimed at reclaiming personal and family memory in defiance of widespread social reluctance to confront traumatic episodes of the past.

In Paneyakh\u2019s interpretation, the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> illustrates how individual acts of historical inquiry can challenge entrenched patterns of forgetting by publicly naming victims and reconstructing the circumstances of state violence. Such initiatives, she suggests, reflect a broader cultural tendency toward articulating experiences that were previously considered unspeakable, thereby contributing to the gradual reconfiguration of ethical norms and public discourse in Russian society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elena Shmaraeva.
\u201c\u0410 \u0432\u044b \u043a\u0435\u043c \u043f\u043e\u043a\u043e\u0439\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0445\u043e\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0441\u044c?\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
(\u201cWhat is your relationship to the deceased?\u201d).
Mediazona, December 22, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/zona.media\/article\/2016\/26\/12\/archive<\/summary>\n


This article by journalist Elena Shmaraeva<\/em> presents an in-depth cultural and analytical reflection on contemporary archival research in Russia, structured around an interview with historian Nikita Petrov<\/em>, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Scientific, Information and Educational Center of the Memorial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text explores how researchers work with archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and the Federal Security Service (FSB), addressing persistent restrictions, classified materials related to the Great Terror, and the broader institutional barriers that shape access to historical truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this analytical framework, the investigation conducted by Denis Karagodin<\/a> is presented as a significant and illustrative case. As emphasized in the article\u2019s subheading, the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> is interpreted as a process capable of compelling state officials to comply with existing legal norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than focusing on a single event, the article situates Karagodin\u2019s work within a wider discourse on historical memory, archival ethics, and institutional accountability. His investigation functions here as a reference point through which systemic issues of access, responsibility, and legal obligation are examined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece exemplifies a form of literary-journalistic analysis in which individual investigative practice acquires broader cultural and intellectual significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nikolai V. Kononov \u2014 Sergei Lebedev.
\u0414\u0440\u0443\u0437\u044c\u044f: \u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0439 \u0412. \u041a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043d\u043e\u0432 \u2014 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u0433\u0435\u0439 \u041b\u0435\u0431\u0435\u0434\u0435\u0432<\/em><\/strong>
(Friends: Nikolai V. Kononov \u2014 Sergei Lebedev).
Colta.ru, December 21, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/www.colta.ru\/articles\/society\/13431-druzya-nikolay-v-kononov-sergey-lebedev<\/summary>\n


This published conversation between writers Nikolai V. Kononov<\/em> and Sergei Lebedev<\/em> explores the fragmented and often suppressed historical consciousness in Russia through the lens of family memory, literature, and personal discovery. Both authors reflect on uncovering traumatic family histories connected to Soviet repression, emphasizing how silence, absence, and inherited gaps shape post-Soviet identity and cultural production.

Within this dialogue, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation is explicitly referenced as a timely and exemplary intervention into this emerging field of memory work. Kononov<\/em> points to the investigation as a catalyst capable of amplifying a broader cultural movement aimed at confronting the legacy of terror, suggesting the need for collective forms of articulation \u2014 within literature, cinema, and public discourse \u2014that could extend and intensify this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text positions the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> as part of a growing network of intellectual and cultural efforts seeking to overcome historical amnesia, highlighting its role in activating discourse, connecting individual research to collective memory, and contributing to the formation of new narratives about the Soviet past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Izabella Tabarovsky.
Preserving the Memory of Stalin\u2019s Repressions, One Person at a Time<\/em><\/strong>
The Wilson Center (The Russia File) [A blog of the Kennan Institute], December 5, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/blog-post\/preserving-the-memory-stalins-repressions-one-person-time<\/summary>\n


In this analytical essay, Izabella Tabarovsky<\/em> examines the systemic suppression and distortion of historical memory in contemporary Russia, focusing on the legacy of Stalinist repression. She argues that the absence of legal accountability and the persistence of social silence have transformed the memory of mass violence into a fragmented and often depersonalized field, where victims are remembered abstractly while perpetrators remain largely unexamined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this context, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation is presented as a striking and unprecedented example of individual engagement with historical justice. Tabarovsky highlights the project\u2019s methodological transparency and public accessibility, emphasizing how it reconstructs responsibility through archival research and brings suppressed histories into open circulation. She also notes the rare instance of dialogue between descendants of victims and perpetrators, illustrating both the potential for reconciliation and the tensions inherent in confronting unresolved historical trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text frames the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> as a powerful counterpoint to the prevailing “policy of forgetting<\/em>,” demonstrating how personal initiative can challenge collective silence and contribute to the reactivation of historical memory in both Russian society and the broader global context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Olga Malinova.
\u0417\u0430\u0431\u044b\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0438\u0442\u0441\u044f. \u041a\u0430\u043a \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u043e\u0441\u043c\u044b\u0441\u043b\u0438\u0442\u044c \u0434\u0438\u043a\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0443\u0440\u0443 \u0438 \u0440\u0435\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438?<\/em><\/strong>
(It Will Not Be Possible to Forget: How Russia Should Confront Dictatorship and Repression).
Republic, December 12, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/77246<\/summary>\n


In this essay, political scientist Olga Malinova examines how different societies confront the legacy of traumatic historical experiences such as dictatorship, political repression, and collective violence. Drawing on comparative examples \u2014 including Spain, Germany, and Latin American countries \u2014 she analyzes several models through which societies attempt to process difficult pasts, ranging from deliberate policies of forgetting to institutionalized forms of historical reckoning.

Malinova situates contemporary Russia within this broader international context of memory politics. She argues that debates over the legacy of Stalinist repression remain unresolved in Russian society and continue to generate conflict between competing approaches: attempts to suppress discussion of the past and civic initiatives that seek to investigate and publicly confront historical crimes.

Within this framework, Malinova refers to Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror. Together with the publication of archival materials by the organization Memorial, the investigation is presented as an example of civic initiatives that attempt to move the discussion of Soviet repression beyond abstract moral reflection toward the attribution of personal responsibility for political crimes.

According to Malinova, such initiatives indicate the emergence within Russian society of groups seeking to transform public debates about political repression into processes aimed at identifying specific perpetrators and establishing historical accountability. If such efforts continue, she suggests, they may eventually require either the involvement of existing judicial institutions or the creation of special mechanisms similar to truth commissions used in other countries confronting authoritarian pasts.

At the same time, Malinova notes that Russian society has not yet developed the political consensus or institutional capacity necessary for a full reckoning with the legacy of state violence. In her interpretation, the persistence of fragmented memory practices and the limited role of the state in acknowledging the tragedy of political repression make initiatives such as the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> particularly significant as early indicators of a possible future process of historical accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ekaterina Margolis.
\u041f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0434\u0430 \u0441 \u0438\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0430\u043c\u0438 \u0438 \u043b\u0438\u0446\u0430\u043c\u0438<\/em><\/strong>
(Truth with Names and Faces).
Colta.ru, December 6, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/www.colta.ru\/articles\/literature\/13311-pravda-s-imenami-i-litsami<\/summary>\n


In this essay, writer and artist Ekaterina Margolis reflects on the representation of history through the children\u2019s book The History of an Old Apartment<\/em>, emphasizing the importance of conveying the past through concrete, personal, and emotionally accessible narratives. She highlights how historical experience becomes meaningful when it is reconstructed through everyday life, individual stories, and material details rather than abstract generalizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this framework, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation is invoked as a contemporary realization of the demand for \u201cnames and faces\u201d in historical truth. Margolis presents the project as a breakthrough moment in which anonymous notions of repression are replaced by the identification of \u043a\u043e\u043d\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0438\u0441\u043f\u043e\u043b\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438, transforming the understanding of state violence into a field of personal responsibility and documented fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text thus frames the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> investigation<\/a> as a paradigmatic example of a new approach to history, where truth emerges through naming, documentation, and the restoration of individual human presence within historical narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sergei Medvedev.
\u042d\u0444\u0444\u0435\u043a\u0442 \u041a\u0430\u0440\u0430\u0433\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430. \u041f\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u0432\u043b\u0430\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0431\u043e\u0438\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0442\u043e\u043c\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0444\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0441\u043e\u0444\u0430?<\/em>
<\/strong><\/em>(The Karagodin Effect: Why Are the Authorities Afraid of the Tomsk Philosopher?).
Republic, November 29, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/76777<\/summary>\n


In this essay, political scientist, public intellectual, journalist, and university lecturer Sergei Medvedev analyzes Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation into the execution of his great-grandfather during the Stalinist terror, conducted within the framework of the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medvedev interprets the investigation<\/a> as a significant attempt to challenge the long-standing anonymity of Soviet state violence by identifying the individuals responsible for political repression. In the article he introduces the concept of the \u201cKaragodin Effect<\/em>,\u201d describing the investigation as an example of how personal archival research can disrupt entrenched narratives of historical silence and impunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Medvedev, the investigation<\/a> demonstrates how a single civic initiative can shift public discourse about Stalinist repression from abstract moral reflection toward the concrete attribution of responsibility. By restoring the names of perpetrators and victims, the investigation exposes the structural logic of terror embedded in Russian political culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of the Karagodin Effect<\/em>, as formulated by Medvedev, refers to the broader political and cultural resonance produced when private archival work challenges institutionalized forgetting and forces society to confront the mechanisms of historical violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evgeny Politdrug.
<\/strong>\u0416\u0438\u0437\u043d\u044c \u0438 \u0441\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0442\u044c \u0421\u0442\u0435\u043f\u0430\u043d\u0430 \u041a\u0430\u0440\u0430\u0433\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430<\/em><\/strong><\/strong>
<\/em>(The Life and Death of Stepan Karagodin).
Sputnik i Pogrom, November 23, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/karagodin.org\/?p=38920<\/summary>\n


In this polemical essay, published in Sputnik i Pogrom<\/em> and credited to Evgeny Politdrug under a pseudonym, Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s investigation into the execution of his great-grandfather is presented as a morally and historically significant act of civic inquiry. The text opens by noting that Karagodin succeeded in identifying, by name, those involved in the 1938 execution of Stepan Karagodin, including the direct executioners and even the driver who transported the condemned to the killing site. It also emphasizes that the investigation had already become a major subject of public attention in both the press and social media.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essay is structured as an explicit defense of Denis Karagodin<\/a> and the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> against attacks from radical pro-Stalin commentators online. Its central rhetorical move is ironic reversal: rather than allowing Soviet apologists to discredit Stepan Karagodin by reconstructing his biography, the article argues that the very evidence they invoke instead reveals him as an industrious, principled, culturally minded, and unjustly murdered man. In this way, the text turns the attempted denunciation into an indictment of the moral logic of Stalinist repression itself.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this framework, the Karagodin case<\/a> is interpreted not merely as a family investigation but as a broader historical and cultural confrontation with the Russian twentieth century. The article presents the fate of Stepan Karagodin as emblematic of a wider social catastrophe in which hardworking, self-made people were destroyed by ideological violence and bureaucratic terror. Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s work is therefore framed as an effort to restore historical truth, resist apologetics for Soviet violence, and insist on the ethical necessity of naming perpetrators publicly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essay ultimately places the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> within a larger struggle over historical memory in Russia. Its significance, in this interpretation, lies not only in reconstructing one individual case, but in exposing the enduring conflict between civic remembrance and neo-Stalinist denial. The text thus treats Denis Karagodin<\/a>\u2019s project as both a documentary investigation and a symbolic act of moral resistance against the normalization of political terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dmitry Volchek.
\u0411\u0430\u043a\u043b\u0430\u0436\u0430\u043d \u0427\u0430\u0439\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e
<\/strong>(Tchaikovsky\u2019s Eggplant).
Colta.ru, November 17, 2016 (published October 27, 2017)
Available at: https:\/\/www.colta.ru\/articles\/literature\/16413-baklazhan-chaykovskogo<\/summary>\n


This text is part of a published diary by writer and cultural commentator Dmitry Volchek, documenting his travels, intellectual reflections, and encounters within contemporary European cultural life. The diary form combines personal observation with references to literature, art, and political events, creating a fragmented but dense record of subjective experience within a broader cultural and historical context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within one of the entries, Denis Karagodin<\/a> is mentioned in connection with an interview concerning his investigation into the execution of his great-grandfather. This reference situates the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> within an intellectual and cultural milieu, presenting it as a subject of interest for literary and journalistic reflection rather than purely historical or legal inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inclusion of Karagodin in this diary context underscores the integration of the investigation into contemporary cultural discourse, where it appears alongside discussions of art, memory, and political transformation, reflecting its resonance beyond disciplinary boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ivan Kurilla.
\u041d\u0430\u0437\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0435 \u0438\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0430 \u043f\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0447\u0435\u0439. \u041a\u0430\u043a \u0432 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u0432\u043e\u0437\u0440\u043e\u0436\u0434\u0430\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043f\u0430\u043c\u044f\u0442\u044c \u043e \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043b\u043e\u043c<\/strong>
(Name the Executioners: How the Memory of the Past Is Being Revived in Russia).
Republic, June 21, 2016.
Available at: https:\/\/republicmag.io\/posts\/69755<\/summary>\n


In this essay, historian Ivan Kurilla examines the emergence of new forms of civic engagement with the legacy of Stalinist repression in contemporary Russia. The article reflects on the broader cultural and political problem of historical memory in a society that never underwent a comprehensive process of reckoning with Soviet state violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurilla discusses the case of Denis Karagodin<\/a> and his investigation<\/a> into the execution of his great-grandfather Stepan Karagodin during the Great Terror of 1938. According to the author, Karagodin\u2019s decision to demand a criminal investigation and to identify the individuals responsible for the killing represents a remarkable and unprecedented civic gesture in the Russian context. The investigation shifts the discussion of Stalinist repression away from abstract statistics toward the concrete fate of a single victim and the legal responsibility of specific perpetrators.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kurilla\u2019s interpretation, Karagodin\u2019s initiative<\/a> introduces a new model of engagement with the Soviet past: a personal archival investigation combined with a demand for juridical accountability. Rather than appealing to political symbolism alone, the investigation insists on the logic of criminal law \u2014 arguing that the murder of an innocent person must be recognized as a crime and that those responsible must be identified, even if only posthumously.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author situates the KARAGODIN\u00ae<\/sup> Investigation<\/a> within a broader transformation of historical memory in Russia. He draws parallels with grassroots initiatives such as genealogical research, the documentation work of Memorial, and civic projects like \u201cLast Address,\u201d all of which seek to restore individual biographies erased by Soviet repression. In this context, Karagodin\u2019s investigation becomes an example of how private historical inquiry can challenge institutionalized forgetting and stimulate public debate about the legacy of state terror.

Kurilla ultimately interprets the case as a potential precedent: if descendants of victims begin demanding legal investigations into historical crimes, the Russian state may be forced to respond \u2014 either by acknowledging responsibility or by articulating new legal arguments for refusing such inquiries. In either case, the author suggests, the investigation opens a new space for public discussion about historical justice and the moral legacy of Stalinism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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reflection.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Denis Karagodin at Teatr.doc, Moscow.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/karagodin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/78956740_2873358992698847_1871307153399087104_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/karagodin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/78956740_2873358992698847_1871307153399087104_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/karagodin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/78956740_2873358992698847_1871307153399087104_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/karagodin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/78956740_2873358992698847_1871307153399087104_n.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/karagodin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/78956740_2873358992698847_1871307153399087104_n.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, 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