Every year on October 29, people in cities and countries around the world come together to read aloud the names of those whom the Soviet state deprived of their freedom, their lives, and their right to be remembered.
You can also organize a Returning the Names event in your own city — and we’ll support you every step of the way.
Key steps
- Fill out the form
- Choose a location for the event
- Invite people to join the reading
- Prepare the names to be read
- Record your event and/or join our broadcast live
Here’s how to do it, step by step.
Step 1: Fill out the form
Please make sure to fill out the form. It will help us stay in touch with you, add your city to the Returning the Names map, support your event, and take it into account when planning the broadcast on October 29. Without the form, we simply won’t know that your event is being planned or has already taken place.
We care about your safety and do not collect sensitive personal data. If holding a public event would put you at risk, you can select “private event” in the form.
Step 2: Choose a location
You can hold the event at any symbolic or historic location. For example, this could be a monument to the victims of political repression, a site associated with resistance to totalitarian regimes, a mass grave or city cemetery, a memorial plaque, or another commemorative site.
When choosing a location for your reading of the names and organizing the event, we recommend taking the local context into account and listening to the voices of local communities.
We recommend checking the laws and regulations in the country, region, or city where you plan to hold the reading to find out whether you need to notify the authorities about your event or obtain their approval, and how to do so. Don’t leave this until the last minute: the process can sometimes take longer than expected.
Step 3: Invite people to join the reading
To reach as many people as possible, it’s important to start spreading the word about your event well in advance. Here are a few things you can do:
- Create a social media page for your reading (for example, a Facebook event) to engage potential participants and keep them updated.
- Reach out to local communities: activists, local historians, researchers, students, and diaspora groups.
- Share the event announcement with local media and popular bloggers, and post it in relevant group chats.
- Use the hashtags #returningthenames, #october29, #возвращениеимен, and #29октября, and tag the october29.live account on social media.
To reach a wider audience and engage local communities, we recommend translating information about the event and the name cards into local languages.
We have prepared templates in Canva: open the one you need, add your event details and download the finished file.
Step 4: Prepare the names to be read
Our name bot is currently paused. We’ll let you know when it’s back up and running — stay tuned for updates.
We have developed a Telegram bot that gives you random names of people who were victims of Soviet terror. The selection includes 120,000 records from the Open List database. Names are given out permanently: once a name has been given to a user, it is removed from the pool, so no other user will receive a card with the same name.
The bot is in Russian, but you can use it to get names in different languages and, if you wish, apply additional filters such as gender and ethnicity.
If you prefer not to use the name bot, you can also prepare the names yourself using the Open List database. If possible, translate the name cards into local languages — and please be respectful and welcoming toward participants from local communities.
We recommend the following format for the name cards used during the reading:
- first name, patronymic, and surname (in this order),
- age at the time of the repression,
- place of birth,
- occupation (place of study or work),
- date and place of execution.
Example:
Lidia Dmitrievna Apreleva
17 years old
Born in Harbin
Nursery school teacher
Executed in 1937 in the Smolensk Region
Step 5: Record your event and/or join our broadcast live on October 29
You can hold your reading in advance and send us a video, or join our broadcast live on October 29. Please choose whichever option feels right for you.
Record in advance: You can hold your event before October 29 and send us the recording to include in the broadcast. This option is easier and more reliable from a technical perspective.
Join the broadcast live: You can hold your event on October 29 and join the broadcast live. This helps create a stronger sense of togetherness, but requires some additional preparation.
If you’re not sure you have the capacity to join the broadcast live, record your event instead — it will be no less important and meaningful.
- Video: Film in landscape orientation; otherwise, it will be difficult for us to include the footage in the broadcast. Use a tripod to keep the image steady and clear.
- Sound: Good audio is essential so that the names can be heard clearly in the broadcast. Ask participants to speak clearly and loudly enough.
- Framing: Try to frame the shot so that the line of participants is visible and viewers can see the event as a whole, rather than just the person reading.
- Safety (relevant for political emigrants): Check with participants whether they are comfortable having their faces appear on camera. For those who prefer to remain anonymous, film close-up and medium shots of their hands, the name cards, candles, photographs, and other details instead.
Additional suggestions
The main part of the event is reading the names, but you can also bring (or invite participants to bring) flowers and candles, which people can hold during the reading and/or leave at the memorial site.
Keep the local climate in mind: on October 29, some regions may be cold, windy, or rainy, while others may be hot and sunny. Remind participants to dress appropriately for the weather, as they may be spending several hours outdoors.
When choosing the time and location, check what time the sun will set that day and whether there is adequate street lighting at the event site.
After the event
- Send us a video of your event (The video submission form will be available soon — stay tuned for updates.)
- Share your photos with us (The photo submission form will be available soon — stay tuned for updates.)
- Complete a short survey about your event (The survey will be available soon — stay tuned for updates.)
- Collect feedback from participants and share it with us, if possible
Telegram bot
Still have questions? Contact us via our Telegram bot, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.