Today, on the 60th anniversary of Inta, first museum of history of political repressions in the Republic of Komi opened in the city. It is located within the walls of the historic attractions of Inta — water tower, built in the 50s of the last century by Gulag prisoners.
Leaders of the republic and the government of Inta attended the opening of the museum on October 4. As previously reported on «7x7», an auction of nearly $ 7 million rubles for the arrangement of the museum was declared on the site of state procurement in the spring of this year. The purpose of its creation on Inta soil is perpetuating the memory of the victims of political repression, and the main idea of the exhibition is to show how the fortunes of Gulag people — former political prisoners — twined together — have created a history of the city, leaving an indelible mark on its life and in many ways predestined it.
The water tower in Inta was designed by a repressed Swedish architect Artur Gustav Tamvelius. It was built by a special camp "Mineralny" ("Intlag") inmates, which included people of more than 60 nationalities.
The building was used until the end of the 1990s. In 2011 it was reconstructed. Since 2012, the tower is on balance of a regional museum, being its structural subdivision.
How deputy director of the museum Galina Artemenko told to «7x7», if last year attention was paid mainly to equipment and repair of the tower itself, this year they had already begun the installation of the exhibition, which was engaged by the company from Ufa, which won the competition.
The museum's exhibit is located on several levels that reflected a general overview of the political and economic situation in the country in the 1930-1940 years, the industrial potential of Inta, housing and the architectural appearance of the village. The museum now has its own website where visitors can learn the operating hours and other information of interest.
According to historian Mikhail Rogachev, who presented at the opening of the museum, a lot of visitors were in the tower today. Only the first floor of the exhibition is available, as the second is closed because of non-compliance and fire safety requirements.
However, exhibits of the second tier — a reconstruction of fragments of the living environment of a special camp "Mineralny" — you can watch in electronic form using a special terminal now.
“Of course, the importance of this museum is very considerable, as in the history of our region, the Gulag, in fact, played a crucial role in the economic, social and cultural processes of 1930-50's. Especially, it is the third museum of the history of political repressions in Russia opened in a memorial object connected with the history of the Gulag. There are such in Perm and Tomsk. Exposure is good, comprehensive, but small yet,” Mikhail Rogachev said.
Yaroslava Parkhacheva, «7x7»
