Overview
- City authorities and the museum announced a redesign into a 'Museum of Remembrance' dedicated to victims of the 'genocide of the Soviet people.'
- The new exhibition will cover all phases of Nazi war crimes, highlight the Red Army’s liberation narrative, and present trials of Nazi perpetrators, officials said.
- Russia closed the Gulag Museum in November 2024 for alleged fire-safety violations, a step critics said was intended to hobble its work.
- A person close to the institution said the existing Gulag displays will be completely dismantled and reported deep concern among staff about what follows.
- The institution had been one of Russia’s last public spaces documenting Soviet-era repression and housed thousands of former inmates’ letters and personal items, as pressure on groups like Memorial escalated since its 2021 ban.