Grateful to the team @restofworld for letting me take on this piece about a subtle but profound change that has been unfolding throughout the former Soviet Union.
It's about how previously secret KGB files are being published online, for all to see:
restofworld.org/2020/kgb-has-l…
@restofworld It may seem like a small thing, but it has profound consequences. In Kyiv, Vilnius, Tbilisi, & more, they are changing how people think about their own families, and shifting the terrain upon which conversations about memory, complicity, and justice are held.
@restofworld Critically, these docs are being uploaded in an effort to both expose the stakes of widespread surveillance & suspicion & to present strategies for dealing with invasive technologies.
& last thing--they're also exposing myths about how the Soviet organs operated--that its agents knew, saw, & recorded everything.
Sometimes the surprise is that the archives hold unexpected answers; sometimes it’s that they hold none at all.
many thanks to @Oks_Parafeniuk for the amazing photos accompanying the piece!
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