The Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers was a
public organization in the Soviet Union that worked in 1921–1935.
History
The society was organized by Pavel Maslov (born 1890), Dmitry Novomirsky, and others. The opening took place in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in the
House of Unions on March 12, 1921.
In 1921, the society had 200 members. Among them were prominent participants in the revolutionary movement, like
Vladimir Vilensky (Sibiryakov),
Vera Figner
Vera Nikolayevna Figner Filippova (; – 25 June 1942) was a Russian revolutionary and political activist.
Born in Kazan Governorate of the Russian Empire into a noble family of Germans, German and Russians, Russian descent, Figner was a leader ...
,
Lev Deich
Lev Grigorievich Deutsch (; September 26, 1855 – August 5, 1941), also known as Leo Deutsch, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and one of four founding members of Russia's Marxist Organisation, the precursor of the Russian Social Democratic ...
, Nikolai Tyutchev,
Felix Kon,
Mikhail Frolenko,
Anna Yakimova-Dikovskaya,
Alexander Pribylev, Anna Pribyleva-Korba, Fedor Petrov, Vadim Bystryansky,
Nikolai Skrypnik,
Ivan Theodorovich, Vladimir Zhdanov. The society was led by the Council. Since 1924, the society transformed into an all-Union organization; in 1928, it had over 50 branches. Its members delivered reports and lectures to workers, students, and Red Army soldiers. In 1924, 1925, 1928, 1931, all-union congresses of society took place.
In 1926, the society founded a museum with a library and archive. With the Society of Old Bolsheviks, the Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers created the
International Organization of Assistance to the Fighters of the Revolution (1922).
Former political prisoners rested in the Mikhailovskoye estate, which belonged to Count Sergei Sheremetyev before the revolution. Today, the Mikhailovskoye sanatorium is located at the estate.
Just before the society disbanded, the House of Political Prisoners on Revolution Square was built for them in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
.
The society was disbanded in 1935. During the
Great Purge
The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
, 130 former members of the Society were executed, and another 90 were sent to forced labour camps. The last chairman of the society was Alexander Andreyev.
Activities
Provided material assistance to former political convicts and exiled settlers, organized lectures and reports, collected, stored, studied and published materials on the history of the imperial prison, penal servitude and exile.
The society published the magazines "Hard Labour and Exile" and "Bulletin of the Central Council of the All-Union Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers" and the series "Historical and Revolutionary Library" and "Classics of the Revolutionary Thought of the Pre-Marxist Period". Compositions and materials were also published on the life and work of Alexander Herzen, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, Nikolai Dobrolyubov, Mikhail Bakunin, Pyotr Tkachev, and Figner; five volumes of the bio-bibliographic dictionary "Figures of the Revolutionary Movement in Russia"; and memoirs and documents about the Decembrists, Narodism, the labor movement, the royal prison, penal servitude and exile.
Criticism
One of the oldest political prisoners in Tsarist Russia, Vera Figner, wrote in response to a proposal to join the society after its reorganization due to the increasing role of the
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
:
However, on page 664 of the 1934 edition of the Biographical Directory of Society Members,
Political Penal Servitude and Exile: Biographical Directory of Members of the Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers – Moscow: All-Union Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers, 1934 – 878 Pages
/ref> Figner is listed as a member of the society with ticket No. 2901.
See also
* Memorial (organization)
References
Sources
Political Penal Servitude and Exile: Biographical Directory of Members of the Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers – Moscow, 1929Political Penal Servitude and Exile. Biographical Directory of Members of the Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers, Moscow, 1934
*All-Union Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers. Catalog of publications. 1921–1931, Moscow, 1931: the same, 1931–1934, Moscow, 1935
*
*All-Union Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers. Formation, Development, Liquidation. 1921–1935. Links. 2004
{{Authority control
Organizations established in 1921
1935 disestablishments