Soviet Union: Information on Pamyat's relations with the KGB, the militia and the municipal authorities (1988-1991)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SUN12160 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Soviet Union: Information on Pamyat's relations with the KGB, the militia and the municipal authorities (1988-1991), 1 January 1993, SUN12160, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abb558.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information specific to Pamyat's relations, or the relations of Pamyat splinter groups, with the militia and municipal authorities from 1988-1991 is not currently available to the DIRB. Some sources report, however, that it was suspected that Pamyat had support among the KGB, the Communist Party and the USSR armed forces. As reported by Helsinki Watch in 1990, "the Moscow intelligentsia believes that it is not Yeltsin who is supporting Pamyat, but in fact Yeltsin's conservative opponent in the Politburo, Ligachev as well as the KGB" (Feb. 1990, 75). This report also noted that Pamyat "enjoys noticeable backing 'from above'" (Ibid., 74). An article in Report on the USSR of February 1990 states that Pamyat is "... more palatable to the Soviet establishment (particularly the KGB) than ... the Democratic Union..." (9 Feb. 1990, 11). The report also indicates that, at that time, Pamyat was not a legal organization (Ibid., 10). An article in a previous issue of the same periodical indicated that Dmitrii Vasil'ev, a Pamyat leader, "had been summoned to the KGB and given an official warning against fanning 'national hatred'"; however, "Vasil'ev sued the KGB after his interrogation" (15 Dec. 1989, 13). Report on the USSR of March 1989 states that "virtually everybody who has criticized 'Pamyat' and similar groups in recent months in the Soviet media claims that the society does enjoy protection in high places" (10 Mar. 1989, 14). A report from the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, also of February 1990, states that Pamyat is believed to have "strong influence in the army and the KGB and enjoys support on many levels of the Communist Party and state apparatus" (USCJ Feb. 1990, 3). Finally, a document on Pamyat published by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith in 1989 states that Pamyat's "strength in the [Communist] Party and security apparatus has been sufficient to protect Pamyat from meaningful official sanction" (Ross 1989, 5). As indicated in the IRBDC's USSR: Country Profile, "Russian radical nationalists did not suffer their first legal defeat until October [1990] when a Pamyat leader, K. Smirnov-Ostashvili, was sentenced to two years for inciting ethnic hatred" (October 1991, 81).
Additional information specific to this topic is not currently available to the DIRB. General information on the nature and activities of Pamyat during the period of 1988-1991 is available on request.
References
Ross, Jeffrey A. 1989. "Pamyat, the Soviet Regime and Glasnost." Pamyat: Hatred Under Glasnost. New York: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
Helsinki Watch. February 1990. Nyeformaly: Civil Society in the USSR. New York: U.S. Helsinki Watch Committee.
Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centere (IRBDC), Ottawa. October 1991. USSR: Country Profile.
Radio Liberty. 9 February 1990. Vol. 2, No. 6. Report on the USSR [Munich]. Dimitry Pospielovsky. "Russian Nationalism: An Update."
. 15 December 1989. Vol. 1, No. 50. Report on the USSR [Munich]. John B. Dunlop. "A Conversation with Dmitrii Vasil'ev, the Leader of 'Pamyat'."
. 10 March 1989. Vol. 1, No. 10. Report on the USSR [Munich]. Julia Wishnevsky. "Ligachev, 'Pamyat', and Conservative Writers."
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (USCJ), Washington D.C. February 1990. "The Increasing Danger of Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union."
