Memorial (society)  Memorial () is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. Founded in 1989, it focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in Russia and other post-Soviet states. Memorial's full name is "MEMORIAL: An International Historical, Educational, Human Rights And Charitable Society". According to its charter, Memorial aims:   It accomplishes the latter, in particular, by keeping an electronic database of the victims of political terror in the USSR. Memorial organizes assistance, both legal and financial, for the victims of the Gulag. It also conducts research into the history of political repression and publicizes the findings in books, articles, exhibitions, museums, and websites of its member organizations. Through the efforts of the society, on 30 October 1990, the "Memorial to the Victims of the Gulag" (a simple stone from Solovki) was erected at the Lubyanka Square in Moscow, near the KGB headquarters. For nine months the memorial stood beside the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, known as Iron Felix. The statue was removed in August 1991. Memorial worked to achieve passage in Russia in 1991 of the "Law on Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression." In 1991 Memorial also contributed to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR making 30 October an official Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repression. Memorial also helps individuals to find documents, graves, etc., of politically persecuted relatives. , Memorial had a database with records of more than 1,300,000 names of such people. The archives have also been used by historians, such as British historian Orlando Figes when he was researching his 2008 book "". Memorial funds or helps to produce various publications and films related to this topic. One such film was the documentary "The Crying Sun" (2007), focusing on the life of people from the mountain village of Zumsoy in Chechnya, and their struggle to preserve their cultural identity in the face of military raids and enforced disappearances by the Russian army and guerilla fighters. The 25-minute film was produced in collaboration with WITNESS. In the early 21st century, Memorial is working on a project to create the Virtual Gulag Museum. This will be a way to bring together research and archives from all over the former Soviet Union to commemorate and record the existence of the Gulag and the lives of its victims.