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Mednoe Memorial Complex

Kalinin region, Mednoe
Tver, Tver Oblast, 170521
Russia

Tel: +7-822-388-384

Russian Sites of Conscience Network

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Dialogues for Democracy

Mednoe Memorial Complex, along with all Coalition member sites, has designed a program called Dialogues for Democracy. The Dialogues for Democracy help visitors draw connections between the past and the present by using the histories of the sites to inspire new conversations and action on pressing contemporary issues.

Other Programs

Academic Research and Collections
Mednoe Memorial Complex Museum conducts research at Federal Security Bureau (FSB) archives, military archives, and regional archives with the goal of consolidating a document-based collection for scholarly articles and reports. The Museum also undertakes field research trips around Tver to collect materials from local residents whose ancestors had been subjected to political repression.

Exhibitions
The Complex creates permanent and traveling exhibitions that address the problems of political repression in the city of Tver and other cities. There are currently two permanent outdoor exhibits on the Complex grounds: “If We Could Call Them All by Name….” explores ten cases of Tver region residents (former aristocrats, clergy, peasants) who were executed between 1937-1938 and were buried immediately afterwards in the Mednoe forests; and the art installation “Viewpoint”, which displays preserved photographs, letters and other materials from Tver residents and Polish victims who died in the 1940 massacre.

Public Outreach
The Museum organizes debates, lectures, official events, and regional radio series on topics of totalitarianism and state repression. Mednoe Memorial Complex also works closely with community-based organizations, including the Dostoinstvo (Diginity) association, an organization for victims of political repression; Memorial Society; the Tver Diocese; and others.

Publications
Mednoe Memorial Complex Museum publishes a list of names of local residents who fell victim during the repressions of the Stalinist period in two volumes of Knigi Pamyati (Books of Memory/Commemoration). The Museum also publishes flyers, pamphlets, booklets, and other print materials.

Public Events
Mednoe Memorial Complex Museum hosts an annual Day of Remembrance for the Deceased. Participants include children of the victims of the repressions and members of the Dostoinstvo association. The program involves a religious and civil memorial service, and a meeting between Tver high school students and Dostoinstvo members. The students interact with the older generation, reflecting on their own roles in democracy and on what happens to the value of human life when a totalitarian regime takes over. During the cross-generational meeting, Museum staff facilitate a discussion on the subject of what can be done to avoid totalitarianism in the future.