44 Lenin Avenue

A researcher's journey to Siberia

Architecture of Repression

The building at 44 Lenin Avenue was of course originally an educational institution. It became a site of repression (*nods to Foucault*), serving as one of two local headquarter buildings for the OGPU/NKVD from 1922-1944. Structurally, this involved converting the basements (of both buildings, if I’m not mistaken) into a remand or investigative prison (следственная […]

Poem about Klyuev

Filed under: Tomsk Memorial NKVD Remand Prison Museum — Wilson Bell at 5:46 pm on Tuesday, November 5, 2019  Tagged , , ,

Vasilii Khanevich and the staff at the Memorial Museum: NKVD Remand Prison in Tomsk (44 Lenin Avenue) are constantly adding information and material to the museum’s website. While browsing, today, I came across this video of Tomsk singer Pavel Evgrafov singing a poem by Mikhail Andreev about the 1937 execution of Nikolai Klyuev. Evgrafov is […]

Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions

Filed under: Monument square,Stalinist repression — Wilson Bell at 4:45 pm on Monday, October 30, 2017  Tagged , , , , , ,

Just a quick note: In Russia, October 30 is officially the “Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions.” As the museum at 44 Lenin Avenue is run by the Tomsk chapter of the Memorial Society, dedicated to preserving the memory of the victims of Soviet-era repression, it’s a key day for the museum […]