Yezhov was the senior figure in the Soviet secret police under Stalin during the period of the Great Purge. The issue is very sensitive,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. Millions of people were imprisoned or killed during the three decades of Stalin’s rule, but the totalitarian Soviet state kept the purges a secret even after his death in 1953. Rachinsky of Memorial said the archive, beyond helping people discover the fate of their relatives, sends a message to Russia’s leaders. “The criminals’ names are known; let the ones who carry out orders now know that their names, too, will be known.”Read moreHow Putin’s Russia is erasing the memory of Stalin’s crimesRussians gather against totalitarianismPutin signs new anti-terror law in Russia.

Source: Washington Post November 24, 2016 22:38 UTC