PRESIDENT: 
Yuri Fedorov  

TREASURER:  
Victoria Szerko  

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: 

Vladimir Bukovsky

Alexander Ginsburg (1936 - 2002) 

Eduard Kuznetsov  

Yuri Yarim-Agaev

Address:

GRATITUDE FUND  

Yuri Fedorov, 535 W 110th Street, #6E, New York, NY 10025  

   The events that swept Russia in 1988-91, once again shook the world. Quite unexpectedly for the world - and even for those who took interest in the Russian history and its destiny - Soviet power collapsed and the idea of communism came tumbling down. As unexpected as it may seem, none of it would have happened if not been for too many people who waged a war against Soviet power and sacrificed their personal freedom and their lives for democracy. Of these, the world remembers only but a few names.    

   Hundreds of former political prisoners and dissidents who brought about the collapse of the communist rule and paved the way to democracy in Russia are unjustly forgotten. They are living a poverty-stricken existence in the economic chaos of the post-communist Russia.  These fighters for democracy paid a dear price for the world to become more stable and less threatening with the end of cold war. They paid with their freedom and often with their very lives.   Now those who are still alive are forsaken by the world and by the very country they had liberated. As we all enjoy the fruits of their selfless struggle, it behooves us to acknowledge their invaluable contribution. This is a moral issue that not only Russian society but the world democratic community must face.