Does Russia need to repent of its history?

Historical topics are frequently discussed on the radio station The Echo of Moscow. For us it is al­ways a nice opportunity to assess the dis­cus­sions of Russian intellectuals about their past. Taking into account the complicated relations between Rus­sia and Ukraine and some contradictory pages in the history of both countries, this is a good reason for analysis.

Of course, we need to take into account the specific audience of The Echo of Moscow, but the result is quite encou­raging. Most of the visitors of the website, 54.9 percent, gave a positive ans­wer to the title question. The share of negative answers was 43.5 percent, whereas 1.6 percent of respondents found difficulty in answering. About 6,000 people had taken part in the survey when this material was being prepared.

Russian history has been far from smooth, including numerous tragic events, especially demonstrative of which is the Soviet time.

“I read Bolshoy Gorod (Big City). From time to time they publish a magazine which contains seven stories told by some unknown people who tell about their lives. So, each time I listen to, watch, or read the autobiographies of people over 80, I get impressed,” Rus­sian journalist Arkadiy Babchenko writes on his FB page, “What kind of country is this? Why? Why could it happen so? How come cannibals seized power in Russia? How come these cannibals have been ruling this country for nearly 100 years? Why are they still in power? Why do we allow them to put us to jail, kill us, suppress, and choke us? The revolution, decay, repressions, exile, famine, war, again famine, camps, the NKVD, food cards, anti-Semitism, refusals of work, dissidents, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Afghanistan, nineteen ninety-first, nineteen ninety-third, gangsters, Chechnya One, Chechnya Two, Putin, NKVD again, again dissidents, again prisons, again camps, Gundyaev, fascism, Orthodox fascism…”
Everyone understands and evaluates history based on present facts. Repentance is an opportunity to admit one’s mistakes. And Ukrainian and Russian history abounds in them. Are we ready for this?

COMMENTARIES

“REPENTING OF MONSTERS BEING REGULARLY REPRODUCED BY OUR COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS IS STILL AWAITING US”

Valeriy BALAYAN, film director, script writer, member of the Union of Cinematographers of the RF and Ukraine, member of Russia’s Union of Journalists:

“I think in order to answer the question on repenting of one’s history this history must at least be written. For a start, the new and modern history must be written.

“We should start with Lenin – was he an enemy to Russia and a German spy who worked for the enemy in the country at war, consequently a traitor?

“Who are Bolsheviks? And how should we evaluate the forced coup d’etat after they got dissatisfied with the Constituent Assembly elections results?

“How should the Russian occupation of Ukraine and its subsequent occupation of Caucasian countries be assessed?

“Can the term ‘genocide’ be applied to own people as a result of Stalin and his gang’s ruling?

“What should be the attitude to Vlasov? Is he a hero of Russia or traitor of the USSR?

“On the whole such questions abound and remain unanswered. On the contra­ry, the efforts have been lately activated to destroy even the smallest achievements in the field of historical knowledge brought in by perestroika. Now the perso­nality of Stalin has been reconsidered (how right was Tengiz Abuladze in his movie REPENTANCE!), and he’s been called again an ‘efficient manager.’

“All this is proof that none of the lessons of Russian history have been understood, reflected upon, and learned. Consequently, the poorly educated Russian rulers will continue to act as if there have been no history before them, thus confirming Bernard Shaw’s words that ‘We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.’

“It seems to me there is no need to repent of one’s own history. As Pushkin wrote to Chaadaev, ‘it is what God has given to us.’ But the understanding that many things were taking place in the 20th century and continue to take place because of our own complicity in this evil, our undefeatable egoism, and our sorrowful indifference is lying ahead.

“And repenting of monsters being regularly reproduced by our collective unconscious, which horrify the rest of the world, is still awaiting us. And it does not matter what earthly name they bear – from Stalin to Putin.”

“ONE MUST KNOW HISTORY AND NOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES”

Viktor MIRONENKO, leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of RAN, a historian:

“I think no one should repent of history, and no one should be proud of it. One simply ought to know history and try not to repeat the past mistakes. I have always believed that responsibility and guilt are quite individual notions. Sinful, righteous, guilty, innocent go about a concrete person. But creating the notions ‘guilt of people’ or ‘guilt of the party,’ or ‘guilt of the country’ is in my opinion an erroneous path. I think that guilt must no way be applied to peoples and countries.

“As for the guilt of the entire people, this is a very dangerous way. This is a very complicated topic, but I don’t recognize the notion ‘collective guilt.’ Guilt is always of personal and individual nature. And telling that some people or a party is guilty is escaping from individual responsibility, on the one hand, and generating new troubles, on the other hand.

“I very much recognize repentance. Admitting one’s wrongs and repenting of them is a very good human feature. But I don’t recognize extending the notion of repentance to a people. This is already a policy, and a very bad one in my strong belief. How can the entire people repent? A nation does not possess the features of an individual, like the notions of guilt, conscience, sin, etc. Every person must repent out of his own will. How can one demand from us to repent of Stalin’s deeds? What relation do I or any other person who was member of the Communist Party of the USSR have to what Stalin was doing in 1936 or 1937? I can leave the party because I consider what he did was wrong. But I don’t re­cognize public repentance.”