Return history to the people

Abstract

The parallel version of history that emerges from the testimony of eye witnesses is, of necessity, incomplete: many of those who could have contributed were killed by the regime. But it can fill gaps in the versions handed down by the authorities and frequently provides the perfect counterpoint to the myths propagated by the Soviet school. Nor is it above propounding a few dangerous myths of its own. The study of this oral tradition has only recently been authorised and is centred in the Russian State University for the Humanities in the study group for oral history, run by Daria Khoudovia. The most striking thing about the oral history of the Russian people is that it is immeasurably more truthful than official history: by and large, the anecdotes remain far more faithful to the facts than the Bolshevik version.