What happens when "someone" doesn't like what you are collecting? Well you can write a letter of complaint, or you can raid the offices where the files are being held and remove them.

Russian authorities accused of covering Stalins dastardly deeds

Recently, armed and masked men from the investigative committee of the Russian general prosecutors office burst into Memorials St Petersburg office.

After a search of several hours, they confiscated its entire archive - memoirs, photographs, interviews, and other unique documents detailing the history of the gulag and the names of many of its victims.

The confiscated archive included unique documents detailing the Soviet terror from 1917 to the 1960s, he said, adding that the office was an important centre for historical research and a voice for tens of thousands of victims of repression in Leningrad.

Not everyone it seems is happy to be reminded about their history.