I Wouldn't Live This Life a Second Time | Generation Gulag: Yuris Yankevich

On June 12, 1941, the Soviet regime deported more than 15,000 Latvians to Siberia. They were "enemies of the people," or family members of the Latvian men ordered to be shot by Stalin that same year. Over 200 people died during the first winter after being deported from the cold, from hunger, from disease. Yuris Yankovich’s father was arrested in front of Yuris, he was 3, and was brutally killed.

Generation Gulag is a series of nine short documentary films that uncovers the impact of Russia’s campaign to rewrite the history of Gulag survivors. The series features interviews and animated illustrations of the survivors’ memories, offering an accessible medium for understanding the dangers of recent campaigns to make history books fit new political narratives.

This story was first published by Coda Story. Watch the Generation Gulag series here.