The book is the result of a youth project called ‘Personal Memoirs of the Chechen War’ as part of the program ‘Human rights Education in North Caucasus’ implemented by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Young people have gathered personal stories of the events in Chechnya from witnesses and participants. They used the method of storytelling, the experience and personal recollection of the individuals is the most important thing to create the narrative of the events. The interviewees were people of different nationalities and age; military, journalists, human rights activists and civilians, many of whom shared the details of their experiences for the first time.
The publication is in particular intended for young people, who might be interested in the North Caucasus, the problem of war and in peacebuilding issues. However, the book will be interesting for a much larger audience.
The primary focus of the project and the publication has been to promote an understanding of the consequences of war by providing information about what happened, and to initiate discussions about the past among young people. Svetlana Gannushkina, Chairman of the Civic Assistance Committee, expresses hope that this collection of personal stories will help people to understand each other better, and contribute to reducing the distance between people in Chechnya that can be observed today.
The presentation of the book will take place on June 3, 2013 in Moscow at the Sakharov Center.