The Sources of Political Terror

It is very difficult to address an audience after a film like the one we have just seen in this large theater, especially since this screening was attended by the few surviving former prisoners of Solovki, who have spoken to us, both from the screen and from this podium. We cannot make the usual comments: “good,” “excellent,” “interesting.” This film is a visual account of the tragedy that our nation endured, a film about the executioners and the victims, about the vileness of some people and the spiritual grandeur of others. It reveals both the power of hypocrisy and the power of truth. It evokes strong and conflicting emotions, and we are all, myself included, still under the sway of those emotions.<...