Soviet authorities and Moscow: seven plots in the records of the 2000s

Abstract

The paper dwells upon historical memory, using Moscow urban legends (recorded both from memory and during interviews) as a historical source. The sources for the study are the texts collected by the author in 2000-2008, 94 entries in total. In the paper a very small portion of these texts is presented - seven narratives, though all connected via a common theme: “Passages designed to evacuate the government”, “An underground city in Ramenki”, “Secret rooms in Soviet buildings”, “The Soviet administration destroys a sacred site”, “Objects sanctified or vilified by the authorities are saved or destroyed”, “Stalin intervenes in construction of buildings”, “Prisoners escape from MSU”. In all of them, the plot revolves around the attitude of Soviet authorities towards Moscow urban sites: e.g., Soviet government builds a secret underground city, Stalin interferes into construction of the Seven Sisters, or prisoners use the main building of MSU to escape. Moscow urban legends are an important and interesting historical source concerning historical memory studies and studies of the dynamics of collective beliefs of the citizens.