Dar’ya Nikolaevna Moskalenskaya,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Teacher of History, Orthodox Gymnasium in the Name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coverage of Soviet Repressive and Discriminatory Policies in Post‑Soviet School Textbooks
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2022-1-3
This article analyzes the coverage of the topic of Soviet repressive and discriminatory policies in school textbooks since the 1990s and up to the present. Of particular interest is the comparison of textbooks by the same authors, but at different times of publication. As a result, the author concludes that the amount of material on repression in the new textbooks has been reduced in comparison with the editions of the 1990s and early 2000s. However, the description of discriminatory measures, in particular, compulsory voting rights, appears in new textbooks, and more attention is paid to anti-religious policies. In general, for textbooks of the 1990s – early 2000s, more emotionally colored presentation of the material is characteristic, and repression is are considered as part of a totalitarian system. Over time, the term “totalitarianism” disappears from textbooks, and the newest editions are characterized by more cautious and restrained approach. Some authors try to minimize the coverage of this problematic topic. Excerpts from historical sources that could help in the perception of this complex topic are not present in most of the latest editions. The reasons for the repression remain on the list of “difficult issues” that have not been properly addressed in the textbooks.
Publishing: 28/02/2022
The article has been received by the editor on 01.12.2021
How to cite: Moskalenskaya D.N. Coverage of Soviet Repressive and Discriminatory Policies in Post‑Soviet School Textbooks // Historical Courier, 2022, No. 1 (21), pp. 30–38. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2022/ISTKURIER-2022-1-03.pdf]
Links: Issue 1 2022
Keywords: repression, discrimination, school textbook, “Great Terror”