On Friday I
went to a particular excursion organized by the human rights organization “Memorial”.
It is called
“Topography of Terror” and its main aim is to bring people to visit places in
Moscow connected with the history of political repression under USSR, in order
to give them more historical information for sure, but also find a space to
reflect on what was like to live in those times and how many people lost their
lives because of the repression operated by the regime.
The starting
point is Lubyanka Square, where were located the KGB headquarters. In the
middle of the Square you can see the monument to Solovky Camp for prisoners
(the Solovetsky
stone).
 |
| Monument for Solovky Camp and Ex KGB Headquarters |
We visited
different places where once there were churches, demolished in the 30s by
Soviet government, that was openly against religion and religious places, so
that just after the fall of USSR a lot of churches are constructed or rebuilt.
Near Lubyanka there's the Execution House (in front of the Kids Shopping Mall) where
around 4000 people were condemned to death by the authorities between '44 and '50. Usually the
officers were taking 10-15 minutes to decide if executing or not a person.
Not far from Lubyanka, we
visited the building of Varsonofyevsky Street, 11. This was used
to be one of the killng houses used by the Soviets.
 |
| Building in Varsonofyevsky Street, 11 |
In Miliutinsky Street 11
there was the main building assigned to the printing of educational materials
to use for propagana purposes.
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| Miliutinsky Street, 11 |
Our trip ended with a visit
to the only Catholic Church, a French Church, existing at the time of USSR, the Church of St. Louis.
 |
| Church of St. Louis |
“Memorial” organizes these excursions
monthly. The guide speaks just Russian, cause is probably mainly intended for
Russian people that are already more or less aware of the topic, but for a
foreigner too can be really interesting, to know more about places that you’re
not going to see in normal touristic excursions.
Webpage: http://memo.ru/d/196050.html
Nearest subwaystation: Лубянka
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