Russian authorities have ordered the temporary closure of Moscow’s award-winning Gulag History Museum, a prominent institution dedicated to preserving the memory of Soviet-era repression victims. The museum, which has long been a significant educational and cultural site, will be closed effective Thursday, allegedly due to fire safety violations, according to Moscow’s city culture department.
“The decision to temporarily suspend the activities of the State Gulag Museum was taken for safety reasons,” the department told AFP. However, the closure coincides with an ongoing, intensified campaign by the Kremlin against independent organizations and narratives that challenge the official state line on Russia’s past.
In the wake of the closure announcement, the museum’s website replaced its usual content with a brief statement regarding the “temporary” closure. Representatives from the museum have declined to provide further comment.
Founded in 2001, the Gulag History Museum in Moscow has played a key role in educating the public on the darker chapters of Soviet history. Combining official state records with personal memorabilia, such as family photos and belongings of those who endured the Gulag prison camps, the museum offers a vivid account of the brutal network of forced labor camps used to detain alleged state enemies. Millions of people were confined in these camps, and countless individuals died as a result of the repression.
In 2021, the museum was honored with the Council of Europe’s Museum Prize, which lauded its efforts to “expose history and activate memory” with a mission to bolster civil society’s resilience and its resistance to political repression and human rights abuses. This acknowledgment of the museum’s work highlighted its role in fostering awareness of the importance of remembering political atrocities.
Visitors to the museum on Thursday expressed disappointment over its closure. “It’s a strong museum, very impressive. It’s disappointing that this happened,” said Mikhail, a museum worker, adding that he hopes the closure is not permanent. “We need people to see it, to understand, to know that it must not be repeated.”
Others, however, felt differently. Yulia, a Moscow resident who identified herself as a Stalinist, expressed support for the closure. “I’m against such establishments,” she remarked. “I’m not sad. People die in every era, right now as well. We can’t make monuments for every era.”
Throughout his time in office, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shaped Russia’s historical narrative, particularly regarding the Soviet Union’s legacy. Though Putin has occasionally acknowledged Stalin’s repression, his public statements often emphasize Stalin’s role as a wartime leader, and recent Russian school textbooks have downplayed the mass persecution of the Great Terror.
The museum’s closure aligns with increased efforts by authorities to silence organizations and individuals challenging the Kremlin’s approach to history. In 2021, the government dissolved Memorial, the Nobel Prize-winning NGO that documented Soviet repression and investigated contemporary human rights abuses. Just last month, the Gulag History Museum hosted an event titled “Return of the Names,” where volunteers read aloud the names of individuals who perished during Stalin’s purges, highlighting the importance of collective remembrance amid growing restrictions.
As Russia’s stance toward historical interpretation tightens, the future of the Gulag History Museum remains uncertain, raising concerns among advocates for historical transparency and free expression.
