For the third year in a row, the Russian Canadian Democratic Alliance organized the commemoration event “Returning the Names” — a day of remembrance for the victims of political repressions in the USSR.
We believe this is one of the most meaningful events of the year — a space of collective memory and shared reflection.
Memory is our responsibility, our task, and our only way forward.
We cannot avoid this work — we must go through it, and doing so together gives us strength.
During the event, we not only read the names of the victims of repression,
but also read letters from today’s political prisoners, written specially for Returning the Names. We are deeply grateful to our colleagues who shared these letters with us — they reminded us that repression and the struggle for freedom are not only matters of the past, but also of the present.
There are two important days we mark in late October.
October 29 — the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions. On this day, we read aloud the names of those whose lives were destroyed by political terror.
October 30 — the Day of Political Prisoners. We mark the Day of Struggle for the Rights of Political Prisoners.
These two days are inseparably linked — remembrance and action, memory and solidarity. The day was established by soviet dissidents in the camps: they declared a hunger strike demanding better conditions and an end to repression.
In just three decades — from 1930 to 1959 — millions passed through the GULAG system. On these days, we honour the memory of those who were exiled, imprisoned, and executed under the Soviet regime and stand in solidarity with those imprisoned for their beliefs today.
By reading the names, we restore humanity to what was once reduced to statistics.
We must understand the scale of the tragedy — but also see the faces and fates behind the numbers.
The regime sought to erase these people from history, to silence and shame them, to make us forget.
But we gather to return their names, to keep alive the memory of those who were killed or forgotten.
We need freedom and memory — because one cannot exist without the other.
We thank everyone who joined us, who hears this call, and who continues this work of remembrance and solidarity.