Press-releases

Great Terror

This survey took place between 18-22 August 2017 and was conducted throughout all of Russia in both urban and rural settings. The survey was carried out among 1600 people over the age of 18 in 137 localities of 48 of the country’s regions. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the number of participants.

The statistical error of these studies for a selection of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:

3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING OPINIONS ON THE STALINIST REPRESSIONS ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO AGREE WITH? (respondents were offered a card; single answer; arranged according to August 2017)

Jul. 00 Dec. 07 Aug. 17
This was a time of mass terror for people in our country 58 53 41
The repressions were related to the party “purges” and primarily concerned the political elite 14 18 22
The repressions mainly dealt with “enemies of the people” 10 9 11
The Stalinist repressions are a myth that is being exaggerated by certain media outlets 8 5 6
It is difficult to say 11 16 20

WHAT DO YOU THINK MOTIVATED THOSE WHO ORGANIZED AND IMPLEMENTED THE REPRESSIONS? (Respondents were offered a card; multiple answers; arranged according to August 2017)

Aug. 07 Aug. 12 Aug. 17
Fear of falling victim to the repressions 55 47 46
A sense of obligation to follow orders 23 22 26
Ideology 19 21 21
Self-interest 18 18 12
They didn’t have any particular motivation, they did it indifferently and without thinking 9 20 6
Sadism 6 9 6
It is difficult to say 13 15 14

WOULD YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING MEASURES TO MEMORIALIZE THE VICTIMS OF THE STALINIST REPRESSIONS?

Yes No It is difficult to say
Creating memorial books and monuments to repression victims in Russian cities and places where victims died Aug. 17 68 17 16
May 11 70 19 11
Social support for citizens who lived through the repressions Aug. 17 67 15 16
May 11 78 12 10
Recognizing Stalin’s mass repressions as a crime perpetrated by the government Aug. 17 52 24 24
May 11 64 15 22
Declassifying records related to the mass repressions Aug. 17 67 16 18
May 11 68 18 15
Finishing the rehabilitation of citizens who were convicted for political reasons throughout different periods of Soviet history Aug. 17 58 20 22
May 11 72 14 15
Passing a law that would prohibit naming cities, streets, squares, etc. after people who were accessories to the mass repressions Aug. 17 45 26 29
May 11 53 26 22

PEOPLE HAVE RECENTLY BEEN PREPARING TO ERECT MONUMENTS TO STALIN IN SOME RUSSIAN CITIES. WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THIS?

Apr. 05 Aug. 17
Very positive 9 8
Somewhat positive 27 31
Somewhat negative 31 27
Very negative 22 11
It is difficult to say 12 23

 

Total I have family members who were victims of the Stalinist repressions I don’t have family members who were victims of the Stalinist repressions I don’t know
Number of respondents 1602 337 817 448

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING OPINIONS ON THE STALINIST REPRESSIONS WOULD YOU BE MOST LIKELY TO AGREE WITH?

This was a time of mass terror for people in our country 41 54 39 37
The repressions were related to the party “purges” and primarily concerned the political elite 22 20 23 20
The repressions mainly dealt with “enemies of the people” 11 10 13 9
The Stalinist repressions are a myth that is being exaggerated by certain media outlets 6 4 8 4
It is difficult to say 20 13 16 30

WHAT DO YOU THINK MOTIVATED THOSE WHO ORGANIZED AND IMPLEMENTED THE REPRESSIONS?

Fear of falling victim to the repressions 46 52 45 45
A sense of obligation to follow orders 26 31 27 22
Ideology 21 24 21 20
It is difficult to say 14 7 14 20
Self-interest 12 13 12 10
Sadism 6 10 5 6
They didn’t have any particular motivation, they did it indifferently and without thinking 6 7 7 5

WOULD YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT THE CREATION OF MEMORIAL BOOKS/MONUMENTS TO REPRESSION VICTIMS IN RUSSIAN CITIES AND PLACES WHERE VICTIMS DIED?

Yes 68 80 66 62
No 17 9 21 15
It is difficult to say 16 11 14 23

WOULD YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR CITIZENS WHO SURVIVED THE REPRESSIONS?

Yes 69 79 68 62
No 15 9 18 15
It is difficult to say 16 12 14 23

WOULD YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT THE RECOGNITION OF STALIN’S MASS REPRESSIONS AS A CRIME PERPETRATED BY THE GOVERNMENT?

Yes 52 63 50 47
No 24 16 28 25
It is difficult to say 24 21 23 29

WOULD YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT THE DECLASSIFICATION OF RECORDS RELATED TO THE REPRESSIONS?

Yes 67 78 63 65
No 16 10 20 12
It is difficult to say 18 12 17 23

WOULD YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT FINISHING THE REHABILITATION OF CITIZENS WHO WERE CONVICTED FOR POLITICAL REASONS THROUGHOUT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF SOVIET HISTORY?

Yes 58 69 56 52
No 20 14 24 18
It is difficult to say 22 17 20 30

WOULD YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT A LAW THAT WOULD PROHIBIT NAMING CITIES, STREETS, SQUARES, ETC. AFTER PEOPLE WHO WERE ACCESSORIES TO THE MASS REPRESSIONS?

Yes 45 53 44 42
No 26 20 30 25
It is difficult to say 29 27 27 33

PEOPLE HAVE RECENTLY BEEN PREPARING TO ERECT MONUMENTS TO STALIN IN SOME RUSSIAN CITIES.  WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THIS?

Very positive 8 9 8 6
Somewhat positive 31 29 36 26
Somewhat negative 27 33 24 28
Very negative 11 18 9 10
It is difficult to say 23 12 23 31

Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).

The ANO Levada Center has been forcibly included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents.  Read the Director of the Levada Center’s statement of disagreement with this decision here.

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