Returning the names
Commemorative event that takes place on October 29 has been held for 16 years since 2007. It first started in Moscow at the Solovki Rock on Lubyanka Street, gradually expanding to many cities across Russia and around the world. On this day, thousands of people line up and, one after another, read aloud the names of those who were executed by the Soviet regime. Very different people have been part of Returning the Names readings. Among them are those for whom the Soviet political persecutions are a personal tragedy, those who draw hope and strength from solidarity and grassroots actions, those who see the connection between past and present governmental crimes.
Letters from Karelia (2004)
Story of Aate Pitkänen, an idealistic Canadian-Finn who went to Soviet Karelia. This feature-length documentary sheds light on “Karelia Fever,” a phenomenon of the 1930s that led many Finnish Canadians to a tragic fate in the Soviet Union. Taimi Pitkanen last saw her brother Aate in Leningrad in 1931. She was returning to Canada from Moscow while her brother was heading to Soviet Karelia, where his skills as an English-Finnish electrician were in demand. He wrote letters home until 1941 when Hitler attacked the USSR. After that, no one in Canada heard from him. Some 60 years later, letters (written but unmailed) were discovered that revealed his fate and brought together Taimi and Alfred, the son Aate never had a chance to meet. Alfred follows his father’s journey from Thunder Bay to Karelia. With him, we learn about Aate and one of the great dreams of the 20th century.
The film Letters from Karelia was kindly provided to RCDA by the National Film Board of Canada.