NEWS

National Archives commemorates Soviet repressions in Tbilisi display

The Tbilisi exhibition will present personal stories of citizens persecuted by the Soviet regine in the 1920s and 1930s. Photo: National Archives of Georgia press office.

Agenda.ge, 24 Oct 2017 - 16:11, Tbilisi,Georgia

A poignant display opening today in Tbilisi will tell the personal stories of citizens exiled and persecuted during the brutal political repressions of the Soviet regime in Georgia.

Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the 1937 Great Purge in the Soviet Union, the exhibition Repressions in Georgia will open at the National Archives exhibition pavilion.

The event will seek to present the "scale and substance” of the regime’s repressions throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

The exhibition pavilion of the National Archives venue. Photo: National Archives of Georgia press office.

The persecutions claimed lives and livelihoods of thousands of common citizens, intellectuals and independently minded artists in Georgia.

Photographs, documents and personal items of the victims exiled to remote labour camps or shot following arrest will be presented to viewers.

Among others, the display will tell the stories of notable individuals of art and culture life in Georgia.

These will include theatre director Sandro Akhmeteli, poet Titsian Tabidze (with his final photograph going on display) and painter Dimitri Shevardnadze.

Members of the founding congress of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia, annexed by the Soviet armies in 1921, will also be remembered.

While some of the exhibits have been put on display before, a "major part” of the material will be publicised for the first time, said organisers.

The National Archives representatives met families and descendants of the victims to obtain documents and personal items for the exhibition.

The dark legacy of the Soviet purges is also on permanent display in Tbilisi, at the Georgian National Museum’s Museum of Soviet Occupation.

The exhibition Repressions in Georgia will be open for visitors through November 10.

Tbilisi photo exhibition marks anniversary of 1921 Soviet invasion

24 Feb 2017

A special photographic exhibition will mark the 96th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Georgia’s First Democratic Republic and its aftermath in Tbilisi tomorrow.

Georgia commemorates thousands of victims of Soviet repression

23 Aug 2016

Today is European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, which is an international remembrance day for victims of totalitarian ideologies.

Legacy of Georgia’s first government head marked in symbolic occasion

05 Jan 2016

Descendants of independent Georgia's first prime minister attended a symbolic brief return of late Noe Ramishvili's credentials to his homeland earlier today.

Exhibition honours women of Georgia’s first Constituent Assembly in 1919-1921

29 Sep 2015

An exhibition celebrating female members of Georgia’s first independent Constituent Assembly is being held on Wednesday in the central Georgian town Gori.

National Museum exhibition, talks to explore communism in Georgia

24 Oct 2017

Tbilisi residents and visitors interested in contemporary history are invited to a German-Georgian retrospective on communism and its influence on the 20th century Georgia in an exhibition Communism After 100 Years.

Flags at half-staff around Georgia to mark 1921 Soviet occupation of Georgia

25 Feb 2019

The Georgian national flag is flying at half-staff at government buildings around the country today in remembrance of thousands of ordinary citizens and soldiers who died in the battle against Soviet forces 98 years ago.

Remains of victims of Soviet repression identified

06 Apr 2019

The bodies of over 150 people repressed in 1937-1938 during Stalin’s reign, otherwise known as the Great Terror, have been identified in Georgia’s seaside resort of Batumi.

Government receives recommendations on remains of supposed victims of Soviet repression

10 Apr 2019

The Soviet Past Research Laboratory (SOVLAB) calls on Georgian authorities and Batumi clergy to fully explore and investigate the bodies found on April 5 in Batumi.

5th grave found in Batumi possibly with remains of people shot during Stalin’s reign

01 May 2019

Another grave has been found in Batumi, in western Georgia, which is very likely to contain the remains of victims of Soviet repression in 1937-1938 during Stalin’s reign.

Victims of Soviet repressions remembered, names read out loud in Tbilisi

30 Jul 2019

Names of the residents of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi who were killed or exiled during the 1937-38 Soviet repressions were read out loud in Tbilisi today. The victims of the Soviet regime were remembered in relation to the date (July 30, 1937) when the Soviet Union leadership issued decree N00447 on the detention and punishment of so-called “kulaks, criminals and anti-Soviet elements.”

Stories of artists under Soviet repressions opens at Tbilisi museum

12 Dec 2018

History and art enthusiasts can now visit Tbilisi’s Museum of Georgia to discover the story of the country’s artists under Soviet repressions through works by painters, sculptors and designers that became victims of the regime.

99 years since Soviet occupation of Georgia

25 Feb 2020

Ninety-nine years have passed since the day Georgia lost its three-year independence and was occupied by the Bolshevik Red Army. The Georgian national flag is flying at half-staff at government buildings around the country today in remembrance of the thousands of ordinary citizens and soldiers who died in the battle against Soviet forces in 1921.

US Embassy: ‘99 years since Soviet occupation, we stand with Georgia in support of hard-fought sovereignty’

25 Feb 2020

The US Embassy in Tbilisi says that 99 years after the Soviet occupation of Georgia began, the US stands with Georgia in support of its hard-fought sovereignty, citing famous Georgia writer Mikheil Javakhishvili and his description of the occupation.