Returning the Names 2026

As every year at the end of October, we invite you to join the annual action “Returning the Names”. These days, all over the world, people gather for whom the fates of the repressed, the exiled, the arrested and the executed are the very history of the country: an inconvenient truth that an authoritarian state tries to hush up.

Today this mission is especially important. History repeats itself: state violence is again becoming an instrument of control over society, and the number of unjustly convicted people in Russia keeps growing. By reading the names, we preserve the memory of the victims of Soviet terror and draw attention to today’s policy of silencing dissent.

Among the names read during the action there are people of different origins, nationalities, ages and occupations. One thing they have in common: they were citizens of the Soviet state and its innocent victims.

If your family history includes repressed or deported relatives, you can read their names — or take names from this year’s list.

We record the reading on video, to become part of a common event that unites people all over the world: on 29 October a YouTube broadcast will combine recorded readings from all over the world with live segments. You can take part with your face visible, or anonymously — without showing it. The important thing is to share the idea of the action and the desire to make your own contribution to preserving memory.

We are meeting at Nicola Grosa obelisk, in the garden opposite the Court building at 17.00, the 24th October.