Over-coming

Moscow, Russia

2018

One of the most difficult historical themes for reflection is the Stalin’s purges and their consequences. 18 million of people were convicted and directed to GULAG (the system of Soviet labour prisons and camps), including about 5 millions of political prisoners and about 1 million of people who were executed. Even now Stalin’s repressions are very little spoken about. The unspoken and unreflected past will live on in our children.

In the project Over-coming, I juxtapose letters written to my great-grandfather by his former fellow-prisoner from Gulag labor camp with photographs of my children. The children’s photos are covered by a semi-transparent fabric, making them barely visible and blurred—just as an unprocessed past clouds the possibility of a free future.

After Stalin’s death, all political prisoners were released upon completing their sentences. The next General Secretary, Nikita Khrushchev, denounced Stalin’s cult of personality and introduced a rehabilitation process for those convicted under political Article 58-10. However, obtaining official rehabilitation required navigating long and complex bureaucratic procedures.

My great-grandfather, Debolsky Diodor Dmitrievich (1892-1963), served his second political term from 1949 to 1955 in Dubravlag labour camp (Mordovia). He was convicted because he attended reading group of Indian philosophy lovers and that sounded suspicious for the Soviet authorities. After labour camp, he held correspondence with some of his campmates, successfully gained rehabilitation on his first attempt after filing numerous petitions and letters. His correspondent, Vladimir Sushinsky, was denied on his initial request. In his letters, he expresses deep pain over the rejection, explaining how the political conviction destroyed his family life and caused his relatives to abandon him. He tries to comfort himself, suggesting that maybe rehabilitation isn’t that important after all. Yet, his words reveal how vitally significant it is for him to regain some sense of meaning in his life. Eventually, he finds the courage to reapply for rehabilitation. However, he dies before receiving a response.