Three memoirs about the fates of political prisoners and their experiences

Timothy Snyder, "On Tyranny"

Lower authorities will use information about you to control your actions. Check your computer regularly and clean it from malicious programs. Remember that e-mail is often visible to many people. Try using the Internet in other ways, or just use it less. Make personal connections face-to-face. Also, solve all your legal problems for the same reasons. Dictators are looking for a peg to hang you on. Try not to fall for that hook.

The hero of Shakespeare's drama "Hamlet" is a virtuous man. He is rightly shocked by an evil leader abruptly rising to power. Haunted by visions and nightmares, he is alone and a stranger in his land, but he must regain his sense of time. "Time has slipped out of its course," says Hamlet. "Oh, my luck, why was I born to correct it?" Our time has indeed "slipped out of its orbit". We've forgotten history for some reason, and if we don't, we won't learn our lessons for entirely different reasons. We must regain our sense of time if we are to regain our commitment and freedom.

Vahan Ishkhanyan, "Bitter Sea"

Hundreds were caught. Change power? Are you kidding? MP Davit Vardanyan was beaten with his hands and feet tied. After he was released, he said that there was a certain number of beatings, when the pain was not added to the pain, but they were not satisfied, they beat him constantly.

Aramazd Zakaryan, another MP,  used to say: you cannot arrest me; I am an MP. They started beating him hard and broke his nose with a Kalashnikov. They started beating all the men with Kalashnikovs. The women screamed. We were beaten as if we were dangerous criminals. They ordered me to lie down on the dirty ground. I thought that an hour ago I was a free man and I had done nothing wrong, but now I am in prison, they treat me like an animal and beat me. For what reason? I remember one of the soldiers saying: "I was in a good mood, now I came here for these idiots".

Andrei Makin, “My Armenian friend”

It was there, in distant and mysterious Armenia years ago. They were commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of a great national tragedy, a huge massacre. On that occasion, the idea of creating a secret organization and fighting to regain the independence of the ancient homeland arises in the heads of several brave young people. The reaction of the authorities was not delayed. Several serious accusations were incriminated against them: nationalist propaganda, separatist subversive activities, and anti-Soviet conspiracy.

Thus, in my teenage years, I discovered the chronicle of the misfortunes and hopes of Armenians. The newspapers were silent about that restrained uprising, but it did not seem surprising that it ended in arrests. The country was screaming for the strong union of all the ethnic groups within its composition, and the slightest centrifugal attempt was always followed by a strong reminder of the regulations and therefore severe punishment. Thus, some Armenians (husbands, sons, brothers) who were accused of trying to cause division were arrested and moved five thousand kilometers away from the Caucasus, which allowed the center to prevent any concession that could be made by the native country.