Photo of Russian Advertisement by Misha Friedman

For those of you who missed it, the Columbia School of Journalism hosted a book talk and signing event for the newly released Never Remember: Searching for Stalin’s Gulags in Putin’s Russia by Masha Gessen and Misha Friedman. Resident Russian Olga Ivleva attended the panel, saying “dasvidania” to Stalinist Russia. 

Gessen and Friedman’s dark and mystifying book criticizes the nostalgia that exists for the days of the Soviet Union in modern day Russia. Gessen artfully depicts the horrors of the Stalin-era in her writing, pointing out the terrifying ways in which Putin’s Russia is ignorant to the terrors of the past. Her writing is accompanied by a beautiful collection of photos taken by Friedman as the two of them traveled through Russia. The photos include the gulag memorials alongside common Russian street propaganda, making the history seem even more desolate through the oblivion of the present.

During the event, Gessen and Friedman discussed their inspiration for the work, as well as what brought the two of them together as artists. The book is obviously intended as a political statement, and quite a radical one at that to most common Russians. When it came time for the Q & A, Gessen was bombarded by a mixture of praise and critique, with numerous older Russians angrily taking the microphone and attacking her work, claiming she was misrepresenting the Stalin era. Gessen firmly held her ground, hardly dignifying their flustered words with a response.

Masha Gessen is brilliant, but cold. When I asked her what her hopes are for the political future of Russia – given that freedom of speech and of the media are severely lacking, but the current generation is attempting to combat this – she bluntly responded that there is no hope. A harsh way of putting it, especially for someone who has dedicated her entire life to criticizing and exposing this regime to the public.

I hardly believe that she truly means what she said because she believes in what she does, otherwise she wouldn’t do it (probably). Masha Gessen’s book has been well-received by the Western mass; now, it is a matter of getting the same information past Putin’s propaganda and into the hands of the Russian people.

Gessen and Friedman’s book is available on Amazon! (Only $22.90, what a steal.)

Photo via Bwog Staff