Inspired by the mysterious disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg (B.A., 1935) after he helped tens of thousands of Jews escape Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II, Russian-American journalist and best-selling author Masha Gessen teamed up with photographer Misha Friedman to search from Moscow to Sandarmokh for traces of the Gulag. Together they compiled a book of photos and essays entitled Never Remember: Searching for Stalin’s Gulags in Putin’s Russia (Columbia Global Reports, 2018).

The project was made possible in part by a major grant from the Wallenberg Executive Committee and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan. Gessen and Friedman will visit U-M to talk about the research that went into the book, and how the past continues to influence Russia today.

Visit Global Michigan to read the full interview, and see Gessen and Friedman on campus on Friday, March 9 at 7pm in Weiser Hall.