Silence is a Crime: Honoring Victims of Political Repression
“Silence is a Crime”: Remembering the Victims of Political Repression
“I believe that silence in these conditions is a crime.” These words were written by Vasyl Stus in a explanatory note after his protest in the Ukraine cinema in 1965. Every year on the third Sunday of May, Ukrainians honor the memory of millions of victims of political repression who were destroyed by the Soviet totalitarian regime. This is a day of mourning for those who were shot without trial, sent to Siberian camps, tortured in prisons, and deprived of their voice and dignity just for their love of their language, culture, and freedom.
Without remembering these repressed people, we will never know the full history and understand the price of our struggle, which we continue today. The SEPTEMBER editorial team has compiled a selection of documentary and feature films about famous cultural and public figures who paid with their lives for our free consciousness of modern Ukrainians.
Feature Films
- “Oxygen Starvation”
A feature film about the political and public figure of Ukraine of Crimean Tatar origin, Mustafa Dzhemilev. The film tells the story of the summer of 1980 when he served a four-year exile, working at an oxygen station. Every day, he filled rusty cylinders with oxygen and rolled them to the dock. This monotonous and exhausting work made him resemble the mythological Sisyphus. Watch on Kyivstar TV. - “Forbidden”
A film about the life and struggle of the poet and human rights activist Vasyl Stus, who openly spoke out against the Soviet regime and died in a camp. The figure of Vasyl Stus became a symbol of the indomitability of the spirit in the conditions of Soviet totalitarianism.
Documentary Films
- “Your Vasyl”
A Ukrainian documentary film dedicated to the writer Vasyl Stus. The title of the film is the signature that the writer left under letters from prison. The film uses memories of Vasyl Stus by his older sister Maria, son Dmytro, friends, and like-minded people, as well as excerpts from poems, diaries, letters, speeches, and interrogations. - “House of ‘Slovo'”
The film tells the story of the Kharkiv house for Ukrainian writers, which became a trap for the intelligentsia. Most of the residents were repressed or destroyed by the Soviet authorities. - “Dissidents” Series
A series of documentary films about Ukrainian human rights activists: Levko Lukyanenko, Mykola Rudenko, Oles Shevchenko, and others. They reveal the truth about the struggle for freedom of speech and human dignity in the USSR. - “Cathedral on Blood”
A documentary series that covers the history of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, as well as the fates of figures such as Yevhen Konovalets, Stepan Bandera, and Roman Shukhevych. - “Unknown Ukraine”
A series of documentary films covering various periods of Ukrainian history, including topics of repression, the struggle for independence, and cultural revival. - “Levko Lukyanenko. Following Conscience”
A documentary film about the life of Levko Lukyanenko, a Ukrainian dissident who spent 27 years in Soviet prisons and camps. The film tells the story of his struggle for human rights and the independence of Ukraine. - “Guilty of Loving Ukraine. Valerian Pidmohylny”
A film dedicated to the Ukrainian writer Valerian Pidmohylny, who became a victim of Stalin’s repression. The film reveals his creative path and tragic fate. - “Boychuk and Boychukism”
The film tells the story of the artist Mykhailo Boychuk and his school, which were destroyed as a result of Stalin’s repression. The film highlights a unique artistic phenomenon and its tragic fate.
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