The General Petro Grigorenko Foundation was established with the purpose to study totalitarianism and preserve history without any state interference.
The Foundation bears the name of one of the leading human rights activists of XX century, well known defender of ethnic and religious minorities who gave up the life of a privileged one to follow the call of his conscience.
Petro Grigorenko was born in Ukraine in 1907. As a youth he witnessed the atrocities of the Reds and Whites. Drawn to the ideals of international-socialism (communism), he became a communist party member in 1927, a loyal officer in the Red Army during 1930s, and, as a general in World War II, a much-decorated hero.
It was after the death of Stalin that Grigorenko found himself at odds with Soviet regime. Unable to remain silent about the injustices he saw around him, he moved into open opposition to many of Soviet policies. That was more than a totalitarian state would permit. In 1964, he was stripped of his rank and imprisoned in a “special” psychiatric hospital. When released he became a leading figure in Soviet human rights movement along with his fellow celebrated dissidents Bukovsky, Sakharov, Yesenin-Volpin and others. In 1969, he was incarcerated again for five years, and in 1977, while visiting his son Andrew in the United States, his Soviet citizenship was revoked making him the only Soviet general ever exiled.
Living in exile, he continued his defense of human rights. He also wrote a unique inside view of Soviet history, the vigor, honesty, and passion of which is reminiscent of the great novels. The book under the title “Memoirs” was published by W .W. Norton in 1982 and was translated and published in several languages through out the world.
groups.yahoo.com/group/grigorenko_foundation_us/
