MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax) - If the last Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, and his family are recognized as victims of political repression, the approach to Russia's 20th century history will undergo radical revision, said Arseny Roginsky, a historian and the head of Memorial, a human rights group.

"I have the feeling that if the Romanovs are recognized as victims of repression, the whole historical underpinning of the Civil War will collapse," Roginsky said in an interview with Interfax on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the October revolution.

"The collective consciousness had it this way: the reds were fighting for Lenin, and the whites were for the tsar. If it is proved within the law that the reds illegally and brutally murdered the tsar, the blow will be more damaging to them that all the talk about their violent seizure of power and the consequences of that violence," Roginsky said.

The rehabilitation of the tsar's family is a matter for the near future, he said.

"I cannot believe that prosecutors and the court can sincerely claim there is insufficient evidence for the rehabilitation of Nicholas II. The rehabilitation of the tsar is being hindered not by lack of evidence, but by the fear to move, to destroy the fragile balance in the historical consciousness. Yet, I am convinced that the rehabilitation of the tsar will happen and very soon. The execution was too obvious," the head of Memorial said.