History of Russia: Exhibition “Documents of the Soviet history: the value of achievements” kicks off in the State Duma

The State Duma of Russia has launched an exhibition “Documents of the Soviet history: the value of achievements” timed to 90th anniversary of the Russian State Archive of the Social and Political History.

The exhibition showcases documents which cast the light on a hard way of country’s development during the Soviet time. These are 85 documents spanning the Soviet history 1917-1953: Application of L.B. Kamenev and G.Ye. Zinovyev against holding of the October armed uprising, Decree on arrest of the Civil war leaders, Minute of Sovnarkom’s meeting on Constituent assembly’s dissolution, documents which shed the light on deportation of anti-Soviet intelligentsia in 1922, 1937 cipher messages  with requests to increase quotas for execution of convicted people’s enemies with Stalin’s resolutions, Hitler’s letter to Stalin and Stalin’s letter to Hitler (1939), letter of L.P. Beria addressed to J.V. Stalin with an offer to shoot captive Polish officers and an extract from the Minute of Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of March 1940 (“Katyn case”).

The exhibition also puts on display Stalin-Truman correspondence on the date of proclamation of the Victory Day over the Nazi Germany, photographs and caricatures of Politburo members and other documents from holdings of the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History.

The Chairman of the State Duma Culture Committee G.P. Ivliyev highlighted the importance of holding such an exhibition in the State Duma of Russia. “Documents are true witnesses of past events. Therefore it is highly important that today we have a chance to see many of those documents which used to be inaccessible two decades ago. Having analyzed them each and every person will personally perceive what was happening during the turning points of our country’s history”, he mentioned.