The books of memory of the victims of political repressions of Krasnoyarsk territory as historical source

In the 1990-s, with changes in the socio-political situation in Russia, the topic of political repression became one of the most discussed and relevant. The researchers received the opportunity to work in the archives withpreviously unavailable documents relating to the period of Stalin's rule. At this time, various public organizations appeared aimed at preserving the memory of the victims of political repression in the USSR. One of the most famous and fruitful was ‘the Memorial’ society, the result of the activity of which became the emergence of "Memory Books" for victims of political repression. These books listed the names of political prisoners and dispossessed peasants who had suffered during Stalin's repressions. "Memory books" are a unique source of biographical data. The study analyzes volume 13 of the "Book of memory of victims of political repression in Krasnoyarsk Territory" and concludes that these data can be used both for the purpose of creating a family tree, restoring the memory of relatives, and for forming a social portrait of the dispossessed in Krasnoyarsk Territory in the late 1920- s - 1930-s. It is necessary to continue the work on comparison of the data from "Memory Book" with contemporary records, to specify and supplement the details of biographies of the repressed.